Big Lies

[Classic-Xer]

(12-09-2016, 03:15 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: Here’s a CNN article on a father of a Sandy Hook victim receiving death threats from a woman who believes Sandy Hook was a hoax created by gun prohibitionist activists.  While it is of note regarding just the narrow gun policy discussion, I’d like to work it at a higher level.

As most should know by know, my understanding of humans is that they reject fact that conflicts with their values.  In this case the woman crying hoax has a strong right to bear arms perspective.  With it comes an impulse to deny any evidence that owning and carrying weapons might be problematic.  Not just on this issue, but on any issue, there is a common notion that one can doubt to disregard any media outlet that presents information one doesn’t like.  I recall a broad dismissal of the NY Times recently on this forum.  There are bunches of folks who wouldn’t recommend Breitbart as precisely fair and balanced.  Thus, the notion of rejecting major events as media fabrications fits with how lots of folks think about the media these days.  It’s all lies.  One can disregard what one doesn’t want to hear.  One can embrace and practice hate speech and death threats based on what one does want to hear.

I’ll mention climate science denialism as another issue where both the scientific and main stream press is frequently dismissed in favor of what one wants to hear.

Various dystopian novels and movies warn of how in the dark future propaganda and lies will be used by the dark ruling elites to snooker the common man.  Orwell’s ‘doublespeak’ from 1984 will stand as one example.  Real world autocratic governments who seize control of the media to present state propaganda is another example of how falsehood might be pressed on the people.  Neither approach seems to be quite matching the reality of the modern Big Lie.  There are large numbers of media outlets providing a smorgasbord of assorted truths for consumption according to one’s tastes.  If one is a rabid fan of unquestioned unrestricted owning and carrying weapons, one can find outlets that will turn Sandy Hook into a liberal mainstream media hoax.  If one favors any sort of off the wall theory, one might well be able to find a set of media outlets that will tell one what one wants to hear, the more clicks the better.

This isn’t exactly a new observation.  I just thought I’d start a thread centered on this sort of thing.

Of course Trump was rated as having more ‘pants on fire’ than most anyone in history.  He understands what certain people want to hear quite well.  He seems ready to assume that he can get away with telling certain folks what they want to believe.  Zillions of illegal voters.  He never endorsed lots more countries getting the bomb.  He will use the Big Lie blatantly and openly, no matter how easy they might be to debunk.  Worse, it seems to work for him.

It’s a problem far easier to describe than fix.  What issues do you feel are being pushed as Big Lies?  What might be done to return to reality based thinking?

She's about as nuts as the Shady Hook killer. What does either one of them have to do with me or my values? I have no values attached to either one them or anyone else like them. How do you approach law abiding citizens and legal gun owners? Do you approach us like an overly sophisticated blue idiot like Obama did several times? Who taught Obama to approach innocent Americans with the use of guilt by association and blame via association? Big lies or something that's not viewed as being as big of an issue or a concern by them? BTW, global warming doesn't matter as much to me as Americans being able to work and provide for their families and support their communities. You are really going to suck as a Democrat, if you still believe that's the way to approach Americans/American gun owners who had nothing to do with the Shady Hook shooting or the belief of the woman you chose to use as an example.