Saturday, September 29, 2012

the most successful people in america are liars

activistpost | The incentive to speak the truth and the reward for doing so are very weak. And not just for a writer, but also for academics and experts who can make far more money by lying than by telling the truth. How else would we have got GMOs, jobs offshoring, the “unitary executive,” and a deregulated financial system? It is a very lucrative career to testify as an expert in civil lawsuits. It is part of America’s romance with the lie that experts purchased by the opposing sides in a lawsuit battle it out as gladiators seeking the jury’s thumbs-up.

And look at Congress. The two members of the House who stood up for the Constitution and truth in government will soon be gone. Ron Paul is stepping down, and Dennis Kucinich was redistricted out of his seat. As for the Senate, these thoughtful personages recently voted 90-1 to declare war on Iran, as the sole dissenter, Rand Paul, pointed out. The Senate is very much aware, although only a few will publicly admit it, that the US has been totally frustrated and held to a standoff, if not a defeat, in Afghanistan and is unable to subdue the Taliban. Despite this, the Senate wants a war with Iran, a war which could easily turn out to be even less successful. Obviously, the Senate not only lies to the public but also to itself.

Last week the Pentagon chief, Panetta, told China that the new US naval, air, and troop bases surrounding China are not directed at China. What else could be the purpose of the new bases? Washington is so accustomed to lying and to being believed that Panetta actually thinks China will believe his completely transparent lie. Panetta has confused China with the American people: tell them what they want to hear, and they will believe it.

Americans live in a matrix of lies. They seldom encounter a truthful statement.There is no evidence that Americans can any longer tell the difference between the truth and a lie. Americans fell for all of these lies and more: Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction and al Qaeda connections. Saddam Hussein’s troops seized Kuwaiti babies from incubators and threw them on the floor. Gaddafi fed his troops Viagra to help them rape Libyan women. Iran has a nuclear weapons program. Change–yes we can! The US is “the indispensable country.” America is broke because of food stamps and Social Security, not because of wars, bankster bailouts, and a failing economy. Russia is America’s number one enemy. China is America’s number one enemy. Iran is a terrorist state. Jobs offshoring is free trade and good for the US economy. Israel is America’s most loyal ally. The US missile shield surrounding Russia is not directed at Russia. The South China sea is an area of US national interest. Financial markets are self-regulating.

The list is endless. Lies dominate every policy discussion, every political decision. The most successful people in America are liars.

The endless lies have created a culture of delusion. And this is why America is lost. The beliefs of many Americans, perhaps a majority, are comprised of lies. These beliefs have become emotional crutches, and Americans will fight to defend the lies that they believe. The inability of Americans to accept facts that are contrary to their beliefs is the reason the country is leaderless and will remain so. Unless scales fall from Americans’ eyes, Americans are doomed.

13 comments:

Tom said...

The attitude that enables this crap is the perennial "good guy" attitude we all have. Oh, so-and-so's a good guy, you can trust him. And if you question it, you're the bad guy. When so-and-so finally gets caught, there was just no way anybody could have known. We all thought he was such a good guy!

arnach said...

http://danariely.com/tag/the-honest-truth-about-dishonesty/

CNu said...

I'm being carefully mentored to thrive in this context, and one of my compulsory subjects is "sensitivity" training. While I'm deeply appreciative of someone whose judgement and motives I hold beyond reproach taking the time and making these efforts on my behalf, can you imagine the severity of the tongue-biting and facial rictus I have to impose on myself in order to get through this?

Tom said...

lol... would be fun to watch ... kinda


... Not that it's really so funny, but what else can I do except try to laugh?

CNu said...

nah magne, that shit's funny. You know how I role, and you know how alien a deeply-cloaked, pathologically mendacious "sensitive" role is to me....,

umbrarchist said...

That is the curious thing about all of this talk about EDUCATION. I have suggested the idea of a National Recommended Reading List. If people claiming to be educators really wanted ALL children to be educated how could that not be a good idea? Lots of young children want to know things, but how do they have any idea where to start? Google says there are 130 MILLION BOOKS. My experience indicates the majority of books are mediocre to crap.

Reading one book per day would only amount to 25,000 to 30,000 books in a lifetime. So a list of 10,000 to 50,000 books classified by subject and age would be extremely useful and not just to school kids. And that is only 1/50th of 1% of all books. But a lot of people including authors, book publishers and schools may have a vested economic interest in not having such a list.

How many economics books have been published in the last 40 years that say nothing about planned obsolescence? But does that mean it does not exist? So we have entire professions lying to the public by omission at least. What do politicians really know about economics?

And then the entire physics profession can fail to discuss the center of mass of the tilted top portion of the south WTC tower. 29 stories can tilt 22 degrees and the center of gravity is of no importance or interest to physicists. LOL

CNu said...

Anybody reading a book a day is CUH-LEARLY a useless eater and an oxygen thief. But more to the point, it is even more important imoho, for a person to write something every single day. Lack of the expository capacity of a high-functioning 8th grader is an even more detrimental state of competence than what you're on about with the lack of regular quality reading.

If you cant write, how you gonna document, measure, evaluate, problem-solve and plan?

THAT's what's crucial!

Everything else is merely conversation.

Ed Dunn said...

Wouldn't it be better to phrase it as the most successful people in America are data manipulators? In addition, I just remember listening to an Intelligent Squared debate, it appears Americans want to be manipulated and want to hear what sounds good, not what is true?

So if the population want to hear the lie, wouldn't the real liar be the one trying to spread the truth by being in denial that their message can only be the truth if it is accepted and validated?

makheru bradley said...

American politics is the science of deception; the antithesis of ethics. These are the people John was writing about in verse 8:44.
"The father you spring from is the devil, and willingly you carry out his wishes. He bought death to man from the beginning, and has never based himself on truth; the truth is not in him. Lying speech is his native tongue, he is a liar and the father of lies."
"It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State." -- Paul Joseph Goebbels

umbrarchist said...

I wasn't suggesting that anyone read a book a day I was just using that to indicate the maximum that could be read relative to the number of "works" that actually exist. So even if someone is "well read" they somehow only selected a tiny fraction of what exists. So how is the selection to be made, at random?

CNu said...

Not only no, but HELL NO!!!

"Data Manipulators" - TA LOCO?!?!?!?!

A liar is a liar, period. If, as you suggest, the peasant masses want to be lied to, then they are insane and the cull should begin forthwith. In fact, it will begin forthwith whether the peasant masses realize it or not. Mysterious goings-on need to resume on an industrial scale and in earnest! http://subrealism.blogspot.com/2012/08/thats-wrap-on-mysterious-goings-on.html

CNu said...

I'm pretty sure Big Don has a ready and confident answer for both of those questions?

Catholicon said...

oH yeaH?

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