Thanks for the post, Miriam. I didn't send the original along, since
it is so long and so filled with long, rather dull links.
But I do want to save it and send it to a fellow on the ACB list. He
inferred that he has the talent and expertise which allowed him to
prove that Russia really did hack their way into our presidential
election, tipping the scale to Trump. I suggested to him that this
sort of misdirection is as old as our nation. But I began by
reminding him that Joseph McCarthy practiced the same Fake News
tactics by declaring that our nation was crawling with Pinkos and
Commies.
And of course we have the great deception of our day, the George Bush
Illegal Declaration of War on Terror, based on the known facts of
Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.
But Fake News has been such a part of our American Tradition that we
seldom see it. But then, our United States of America was built upon
Fake News. Certainly in a time of Kings and Tyrants, a new nation
ruled by its own people, elected to office, was an experiment not seen
in many generations. But the Fake News was the declaration that All
Citizens held the control of their government in their hands. Even
knowing that what we had was an Oligarchy, where the right to elect
the government was jealously guarded by a select minority, we bought
the Fake News.
A friend of mine said, "Why are you always trashing our government?
You did alright for yourself, especially being a blind man and all."
I said in return, "While it's true that Cathy and I have been able to
maneuver our way to modest success in this confused System we call
America, nonetheless a majority of citizens have not been as
fortunate. When the majority of people are living at, or below the
poverty level, then the System that governs them is broken and needs
fixing.
And telling me that Americans are better off, even in poverty, than
billions of starving, displaced people, does not make life any
better."
What is a government if it cannot provide its people with a stable
living and the ability to advance? When only a small minority of
citizens are allowed to bask in the wealth of the nation, is it really
a government of the People? And if not, shouldn't it be changed to
become more equal in the sharing of its collective wealth? Or do we
believe that some Americans are just better than most? Do we really
believe that other piece of Fake News, that some Americans work harder
than others, thus deserving the massive wealth they collect? What
about the Fake News that Black people, Black men in particular, are
more lazy and crooked than Whites? Do we really want to stand with
those who believe that a person's skin color determines their
integrity or intelligence? And what about the Fake News that told us
for generations that the Bureau of Indian Affairs took our tax dollars
and made life better for the Native Americans? Then there is the Fake
News, reassuring us that our government is spreading democracy and
peace around the world. Another joke is the one that tells us that in
order to have an open society, we must pile up secret documents that
cannot ever be seen by those citizens being protected. Huh?
And if all of that is not proof enough that we are drowning in a mire
of Fake News, just turn on your TV or radio and listen to the ever
growing numbers of commercials.
It seems that the more we know, the less we know.
Carl Jarvis
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