Perception is reality? (Marshall McLuhan and Tom Peters nod affirmatively.)
So I'm reading this New York Times article on the increasing use of hydrofracking in natural gas wells causing higher radioactivity in drinking water and air, when I come to this:
In Texas, which now has about 93,000 natural-gas wells, up from around 58,000 a dozen years ago, a hospital system in six counties with some of the heaviest drilling said in 2010 that it found a 25 percent asthma rate for young children, more than three times the state rate of about 7 percent.
“It’s ruining us,” said Kelly Gant, whose 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son have experienced severe asthma attacks, dizzy spells and headaches since a compressor station and a gas well were set up about two years ago near her house in Bartonville, Tex. The industry and state regulators have said it is not clear what role the gas industry has played in causing such problems, since the area has had high air pollution for a while.
“I’m not an activist, an alarmist, a Democrat, environmentalist or anything like that,” Ms. Gant said. “I’m just a person who isn’t able to manage the health of my family because of all this drilling.”
OK, forget technology and focus on the perception.
Notice how she uses the word "Democrat." To you, is this used as a pejorative here? If not, is her comparison to activists, alarmists and environmentalists a backhanded compliment to Democrats? Or is it an accurate general perception?