Breathing an Atmosphere of Lies
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last two years, you can probably guess why lying and other forms of spreading untruths fester with new virulence in the minds of the public (that is, that portion of the public who is paying attention to public life).
Communicating untruths, whether deliberate lies or “alternative facts” mistaken for truths through ignorance, is a very broad topic. There are polite lies, “white lies,” or lying to protect a loved one, all of which are in a different moral universe from evil lies. The latter are the kind that constitute Fake News as well as other kinds of dishonest villainy.
If a lie inflicts harm on somebody’s Bad Guys, then justifying it may depend on whose side you’re on.
Subverting the system with lies is OK if you win. That’s where we stand in the days of rank partisanship.
Continue reading “How Cheating Starts, and the Path to Oligarchy”