Expert power is not expertise. After this week’s video, I can strongly say that expert power is the idea of looking out for money, time, and self. Expertise looks out for the facts, the truth, and the wellbeing of people. In the video, the Flint Michigan Water Crisis was brought to the limelight. Where many people were suffering from led poisoning from the toxic waters. They brought attention to the world and were warded off by the security of expert power, the government. The government reassured the people that the water was drinkable and safe for the people, but the truth is they are not the experts in this situation. Although they are a strong power, they did not receive education on what deems water suitable for the public or not. In his case, they believed that because they had expert power they could overrule the expertise from an actual expert. They allowed for the devastation of children’s health to carry on beyond what is acceptable, while an expert would have known right off the bat that the water was not okay to drink nor use and could have saved the health of many. Because the government was only looking to save money, time, and construction of new infrastructure to cleanse the water many children suffered from birth defects in this time period and even continue to suffer from the effects of led poisoning. It goes to show how power can play a role in intelligence and believability. The initial assurance that the water was safe assured some until it was visible shown worldwide that the water was undrinkable which reached many to counter the government’s reassurance of the water being drinkable.
In the end, I believe that expert power, the government, and the experts should have worked hand in hand to handle the situation. It would have prevented many long-term injuries from led poisoning and would have saved time and money, in the long run, to tackle the situation earlier on. In today’s society, I believe that people are beginning to become more ignorant when it comes to these political powers and persuasiveness they hold on society. People tend to consume mass media and believe anything that is said on television or on social media instead of researching and finding the facts from the experts. It becomes more convenient for people to believe the expert power than to dig deeper to further develop their views on the political situations.
