The Grand Illusion
Why are lies so abundant today, especially in politics?
There are likely as many reasons to explain that prevalence as there are those commenting on the abundance of falsehoods. There’s also the possibility that lies aren’t any more prevalent , but that modern communications have made their spread easier and broader.
Personally, I’ve certainly seen more lies in current politics than I did when I began as a political staffer more than fifty years ago.
My own rationale for the growth of lies is based on the growing political and technological complexity of modern societies. Explaining almost anything today accurately isn’t simple. People want simple.
Even forty years ago, when I was at EPA, both Congressmen and their constituents wanted simple, straight-forward answers to complex issues. Everyone wanted yes or no answers to issues and questions to which the accurate answer was “It depends on the circumstances.”
Today science, technology, and politics are even more complex. So are taxes, for that matter.
But people want direct and simple answers, especially simple answers that appeal to their beliefs and prejudices.
Contrary to popular beliefs, lies are simple and believable; accurate statements require knowledge and understanding.
It’s much easier to blame government overspending on “fraud and waste” or diversity programs than upon the bureaucracy necessary to handle hundreds of billions in salaries and procurement, or for that matter, upon the 535 members of Congress, each trying to get government to make matters or the economy better in their individual districts and states, or to recognize the billions spent on lobbying to influence Congress and high-level bureaucrats.
Also, a great deal of that “waste” occurs because large organizations require checks and balances, standardized procedures, compatible systems, personnel checks on new hires, pay scales, and a whole raft of other requirements, including requirements for procurement to prohibit sweetheart contracts, bribes, conflicts of interest, etc.
It’s easier to blame the excess of immigrants on drug cartels than to address the shortage of agricultural and less-skilled labor in the U.S., or the internal urban and rural social conditions that fuel drug abuse, or the U.S. past federal and corporate meddling in the internal politics of Central and Latin American nations (as well as other contributing factors).
It’s easier to claim that the U.S. trade deficit is because other countries are “ripping off” the U.S. than to address the differential in wage costs between onshore and offshore, the American tax system that benefits corporate CEOs excessively while penalizing workers, an emigration system that allows more poor and less educated immigrants than highly educated ones, etc.
And, of course, there’s also the very real problem that American education has moved away from developing critical thinking and toward teaching to the [supposedly]objective tests, and that lack of critical thinking results in greater success for liars.
You are so right.
If only people would realize that, yes, there are simple solutions…
…to the problems we’ve long since solved, of course.
Anything we’re still concerned about today doesn’t have a simple answer, or we wouldn’t be asking the question.
But there is a simple answer: just blow up everything. None of the things currently in place were put there for a reason, so just get rid of it all and the results will be so much better.
This is, of course, sarcasm.
Too late, the GOP has read this comment and taken it seriously.
I agree, Mr. Modesitt, with one additional thought:
It’s not all people who “want direct and simple answers.” I think a majority of people prefer those simple answers, but half the voting people are clearly capable of understanding nuance. They vote Democratic
Oh, we Democrats are just as capable of irrational beliefs unjustified by facts or scientific data. The anti-vaxxer movement seems as populated with liberals and progressives as conservatives, and the groundless fears of GMO food seems to be a particular gremlin of the left.
WRT GMO foods, I think part of the problem is the conflation between selectively bred foods and true genetic manipulation (which is more rare, but starting to happen because CRISPR has gotten relatively cheap). Selective breeding has been with us for millennia, but genetic manipulation has only been here for 15 years or so.
Additionally, some people’s complaints about selectively bred crops have less to do with the content of the food and more to do with the policies of the US, in particular their patentability. Since the genes existed in nature to begin with, being able to patent it seems absurd, and turns into a way to penalize farmers. RoundUp resistance is the most significant example. When glyphosate was created, some stalks of corn were naturally resistant. Those survivors were then bred with each other to create a breed that was generally resistant. Now we’re at a point where farmers can be penalized and fined if they end up with corn growing on their land that are resistant, even if they didn’t plant the seeds and instead they either naturally ended up with some of the resistant breeds or if the seeds blew onto their land from neighboring farms.
The other concern is that pesticide resistant crops still contain high levels of pesticide when they are consumed.
Which is why there are maximum levels of many food contaminants recommended (not just pesticides) and food should be tested (except that costs money!).
I worry we are in the pre-collapse. I hope it doesn’t take us centuries and mistakes with Pre-selects to figure our way out. (Although the plauge already happned.) Hmmm…no UniComm to listen to. (Where is Darrin when you need him!?!)