Mourning the Loss of Truth
As you read the exchange to the left, ask yourself: how did it become this way? How have facts ceased to matter?
Sure, there have been hundreds of discussions to the effect that truth is the biggest and most tragic casualty of U.S. politics of the last three years, but to this day it still seems remarkable that 40% of American voters simply don’t care that most of what they’re being fed has no basis in fact.
There are so many catastrophic aspects of American political life that it’s hard to know where to start in an effort to turn all this around. There are people, rightfully, who have their attention on environmental ruin, gun violence, the destruction of public education, cruelty to children, healthcare, the abandonment of U.S. allies, white supremacy, you name it.
Yet it’s impossible to imagine a path back towards sanity and civil behavior in a world in which truth and lies have equal weight informing us what we do as a nation.
Craig,
When it comes to ‘truth’, the easiest place to begin is with yourself!
The one thing you can control is your own accuracy and truthfulness. Once you can admit your errors and strive for objectivity in preference to prejudice, then you are in a position to lament flaws in others.
Take your previous headline, “Will Today’s Rollback of Regulations on Coal Plants Affect You? ”
Is that statement accurate or “true” ? Was there a “roll back” today? Or was this just ‘dramatic licence’ for an event which may happen in the future?
What about all those angry tourists you met in Bermuda complaining about the “film of diesel pollution” from the fossil fuel power-plant? Except Bermuda has no “rental cars”?
The Governor of California is responsible, along with local authorities for the growth of wild fires in California.
Wild fires are a natural occurrence, but the intensity, scale and frequency are the result of poor planning and management by State and local authorities.