| Once you start lying, you lose your credibility -- even when you are telling the truth. More and more people are coming to believe society -- "the state", doctors, bankers, etc. -- has lied to them. The thing is, they're not wrong. Just look at the "outsourcing/off-shoring's good; we'll all become managers/bankers/lawyers/professionals" statements from the '90's. (Here in the U.S.) Rescinding Glass-Steagall. (And don't forget the Clinton administration's part in that) "Iraq has weapons of mass destruction." Eat margarine (trans-fats), not butter. Bullies only hurt themselves... Oh, and lately, "We'll only use these surveillance powers under extra-ordinary circumstances. For terrorism. On foreigners. Well, unless they're talking to someone from the U.S. Or we make a "mistake". Or we buy it from a third party. Or we use a Stingray, that we definitely don't want to tell you about. Parallel construction... Authority is shifting its base, in many places, from credibility to power. Making the incredible credible. Fostering a more base human nature. The conspiracy theorists may be wrong about some things. But the authority figures telling them this, have lost a lot of their credibility. This is the real cost of the lies we're facing, from our "leadership" -- political, economic, even scientific. (How many discredited studies, advisories, medications, herbicides, pesticides, commercial processes...? And not just discredited, but these results hidden as much and as long as possible, for personal profit.) How do I deal with this, in my personal life? I try to be as truthful as possible. Of course, my life experience with this puts me in mind of that song from Depeche Mode: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/depechemode/policyoftruth.ht... But, the people I end up valuing, seem to value the truth I have -- warts and all. |