I see a lot of talk about fake news lately and rightly so. Most news organizations, presenters, pundits, and "independent" journalists serve as the mouthpiece for one propaganda machine or another. People are "waking up" to this fact too, which is great, if you ask me. Sadly, it seems that there is still work to do. You see, when people talk about fake news there is often some exception. That is to say, there is someone whom the speaker or writer or whatever believes is a source of the real truth and this is usually a fallacious position. Further, this unjustified trust in our own "pet propagandists" leaves us vulnerable to being mislead and those who seek to keep us ignorant know this. To protect ourselves and to stand against the many false narratives that are presented to us, we must to come to understand that no media, regardless of how much we may agree with it, can ever be trusted while also scrutinizing our own beliefs that lead us to favor one false narrative or another..
I see this phenomenon all the time. "That news is fake but I can trust CNN" one might say. "You're an idiot, Alex Jones is the only one we can trust" another chimes in. We could switch out the names all day but you get the point. People seem to pick whichever propaganda best fits their view of the world and blind themselves to its lies, half-truths, and inconsistencies. Some of this is likely due to confirmation bias. We like to feel like we are right and we will, often without thinking about what we are doing, seek out the things that confirm our beliefs whether they accurately represent reality or not.
Those who want to misinform us are well aware of our desire for vindication and they exploit this by adopting the fake news rhetoric. Whoever happens to be doing the misinforming here really is irrelevant. Whatever the source is, it knows that a certain percentage of the audience is composed of true believers and feeds them what they want to swallow. If it makes sure to say that its opponents are fake news, it discredit them while strengthening the esteem that it is held in by its audience. Simply put, it serves a duel purpose. We are less likely to question things if we believe that all the information that we don't like is "fake" and are more likely to believe the official narrative (from the presenter's perspective) if it is sugarcoated and called real.
The problem is that we cannot trust any news. If an organization or individual has the means to influence a very large audience, they are likely driven by some agenda. The goal may vary from one source to another but rest assured that there is more than meets the eye. CNN shills for the establishment center. Fox shills for the establishment right. Alex Jones sells products that he creates desire for during his rants. There is always something being pushed on us by everyone who stands to benefit from our ignorance and the wealthy and powerful, who claim to inform us, often benefit the most.
There is a way to rise above the influence of the misinformation that is presented to us by our "trusted sources" but I suspect that many people will not like doing what it entails; however, it is a necessary step for anyone who hopes to be successful in the quest for truth. Many of us have realized that people are lying to us but saying that fake news is fake is not where this process should end. The actual challenge is determining which of our own beliefs are born out of those lies. These things are often concepts that we "know" to be "true." We have never examined them and, in some cases, we are disgusted by the very act of questioning them. Unfortunate as having one's worldview crumble under the weight of thoughtful reflection and the onslaught of conflicting evidence is, it essentially functions as the clearing of the brush that prevents an individual from building a clear model of reality in his or her mind. It hurts to realize that you have believed a lie but to know the painful truth is the preferable option. It is easy to question the things that we do not believe, it is far more difficult to question what we do believe but if we do not, we leave ourselves unable to discover the truth of any matter of importance.
I don't have all the answers and I don't know if self-examination is sufficient to guard us from the propaganda that we want to believe but I do know that there is a problem that even those of us who like to think that we are "enlightened" face. We must do something, that much is clear, or we risk embracing one liar while we reject the other and that is not the way one finds the truth.
Peace.
All the images in this post are sourced from the free image website, unsplash.com.
Another marvellous and razorsharp piece of writing my friend. Your eloquence is beyond most things I have read anywhere and you flow so well in words.
While I certainly am not immune to swallowing new lies when coming off the old ones, I can say from experience that the more often I had to reconsider my cherished beliefs and operating assumptions, the easier it gets to do so again the next time I stumble upon critcism for my "flawed worldviews" - and the less agitated I get when my current dogmas are tested with valid questions. It becomes easier to take the position of the inquirer and try to honestly gauge whether I can explain my position or whether I am being a stupid fanboy of a worldview.
We all go through the Alex Jones phase at one point or another ahahaha, many others like him as well.
Ditching illusions we once held true is a very humbling process to go through and - as I'm sure you know from experience - it actually becomes quite the kicker after a while, because it's marvellous what can be discovered once we start trusting our own discernment and merely taking other people's "truths" as consideration, not longer as gospel truth.
Really happy to be in your tribe man, I completely agree to what you have written here and it was a pleasure to read.
Looking forward to eventual disagreements, ahahaha ;)
Thank you.
"I certainly am not immune to swallowing new lies when coming off the old ones" I think it is like that for most of us and I have done it too. People with something to "sell" will put enough truth in their pitch to make it seem like they are on the up and up but just because they are right about the other guy lying doesn't mean that they are right.
Haha yeah Alex Jones is the easy target these days but he is talented at what he does. While I don't think he is being honest in what he says, I do respect his showmanship.
I saw that you submitted my post to thedailysneek. Thank you. That means a lot.
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Pretty sure the British Royal Family are vampires, Trump is the devil, and I can trust my government. People keep telling me these things so they must be true right? Love the title btw.
Haha thank you.
Yeah, there is a term for it but it escapes me. People find out that one guy is full of shit and wrongly assume that this means that the other full of shit guy is right.
Most media, even independent media has some profit motive behind it and when money or power or influence are on the line, people will often say whatever serves their interest best.
Treat the left like kids, ask them questions. Upvoted. Make videos that are funny, that can red pill people. We have to play their game back at them. For decades, the left has been subtle in their propaganda on TV, in books, in school, everywhere. We have to do the same thing but in reverse and be very patient.
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