The most comprehensive electorate survey—the American National Election Studies (ANES)—were carried out by the University of Michigan beginning in the late 1940s. What these studies showed was that Americans fall into three categories with regard to their political knowledge. A tiny percentage know a lot about politics, up to 50%-60% know enough to answer very simple questions, and the remaining 40% know next to nothing.

Agnotology is a word coined by Robert Proctor, a historian of science at Stanford University. The word means the study of ignorance that is deliberately manufactured, or politically or culturally generated. Procter says, “But ignorance also comes from people literally suppressing truth— or drowning it out—or trying to make it so confusing that people stop caring about what’s true and what’s not.”

It appears that ignorance about unions is deliberately promoted by newspapers, television, and radio stations which are owned and controlled by business people who are antiunion. Little or nothing is taught about unionism in schools. What we do hear about unions is one-sided, deliberately misleading, or simply untrue.

Following are our responses to some of the comments expressed by readers of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about recent labor disputes at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and Hyatt Regency Waikiki. The widespread ignorance about unions is unfortunate for the future of America, because unions are one of the most important means of raising living standards and creating a more just and democratic society.