NaClhv

I don't like politics. I've said before that if I ever get involved in it it'll mean that things have gone seriously wrong. Well, things are pretty bad now in the United States, and one of our problems is the rampant lying in our politics. There are, of course, other problems, but this is one that I think I'm well suited to discuss - and without getting too directly involved in the partisan hackery that so dominates our discussions.

There are levels to lying, as there are to many things. Novices to a deep field are often surprised by that depth, like a tic-tac-toe player being surprised at just how good you can get at chess. Well, politics is a deep field, and truth is deeper still. And lies, being its counterpart, also have many levels.

These levels are often neglected, much to the detriment of our discussions. A "lie" can be something as innocuous as "I can't go out tonight", or as bad as "Iraq has weapons of mass destruction". We erase these distinctions when we say things like "the most common lie is to say 'I'm fine'", or "Trump lied 50 times during the debate." And this is bad, because the bigger lies are much, much worse than the smaller lies. They're incomparably worse than "white lies" like "I'm fine", and their enormity far exceeds factors like 50 in comparison. This post, then, is an attempt to describe the depths of such lies, so that we may more clearly understand the state of our politics. Let us begin our descent.

Exaggerations

"They're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats."

We start with a fairly innocuous form of lying - exaggerations. Milder versions of such lies merely blend into hyperbole, which is simply a rhetorical technique. Sometimes, people who do this well are even regarded fondly. Additionally, insofar as exaggerations have some element of truth to them, they can still be useful. Consider a man who claims to have the winning lottery numbers every week. Of course, he always turns out to be wrong. Now, you can simply dismiss him as a liar - but what if he always gets at least two of the numbers right? There are some people who don't understand the levels of lying, and can't think beyond a binary classification. They will continue to denigrate this man as merely a liar, not recognizing that this "liar" can make you rich if you would only play the probabilities with his information. In such ways, exaggerations can occasionally be helpful.

Still, exaggerations are rightly classified as lies in many cases, and I generally do not appreciate their use in serious discussions. Unfortunately, this is Trump's bread and butter, the kind of lie that he tells habitually, and it shows a disrespect towards the truth which I think is very damaging - to him, to his candidacy, and to our country.

Evasion

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

Evasions are lies to escape a difficult situation. Note that they're not necessarily small or inconsequential lies, but rather understandable ones. In one discussion, I once pointed out that a politician had lied - and my discussion partner replied "yes - and so would anyone else, in that situation!" Evasions are those kinds of lies.

Note that this still doesn't mean that they're good. They're still lies. They're rarely justifiable, or even redeemable in any way. In this sense they represent a worse kind of lie than mere exaggeration.

Fabrication

"A shepherd boy [...] sang out, 'Wolf! Wolf!'"

Fabrications are specific lies made up from nothing - with little prior prompting, and sometimes with many details. These are so dangerous because it's actually quite difficult to just make up something from nothing. So the stories told in such ways are rightly given more credit, than someone being forced to answer under direct questioning. And the betrayal of that trust when the story turns out to be a lie is therefore greater.

When we combine this kind of lie with the next entry, we get the well-known story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"

Repetition

"A lie told often enough becomes the truth"

Repetition is not necessarily "worse" than the earlier levels - rather it's a bonus factor that can be added to any lie to make it stronger. Nor is this unique to lies: repetition makes any message stronger, and it's often used in teaching or storytelling for that very reason. So it's not a "level of lying" on its own. It's not even good or bad on its own. It's just an enhancement - but quite a powerful one.

In general, from here on down, we will not be following a linear path. There is not a one-dimensional way to make lies worse, as befitting a topic this deep. Rather, we'll explore some of the common ways and enhancements to lying, in a generally downward direction.

This is also a good milestone to note, since fabrication plus repetition gives us that familiar story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". Note that, according to the story, this level of lying is enough for a total loss of credibility: you would not trust such a person even if they said that their life was in danger. As such, this is sometimes taken as the epitome or apex of lying - but alas, we still have so much further to go.

Anti-truths

"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."

Evasions are often a lie of omission, or a denial. Fabrications are an active lie of commission. Anti-truths are their combination, in the exact opposite directions. They leave the listener not merely misinformed or ignorant, but believing the exact opposite of the truth.

Because fabrications are generally much worse than evasions, their sum would usually not warrant a much worse kind of lie than just the fabrication - except that anti-truths are often combined with...

Malice

"Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up friendly feeling?"

Anti-truths are generally so obvious and harmful that they rarely occur on their own. Instead, they're often caused by a hatred of one's enemies. Thus, the accomplishment of your enemy will be propagandized as a failure, their ability as incompetence, their kindness as cruelty, or their integrity as deception.

What does this actually look like? Well, in the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", imagine that the shepherd boy had borrowed a dog from a neighbor to help him with his work - only to afterwards accuse that neighbor of setting loose a wolf upon his flock. That's the kind of lies that are involved at this level.

But how could anyone tell a lie so absurd? This is where the next level of lies comes in.

Impunity

“We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying.”

Some lies get so big and so bad, that the liars will tell them with impunity. They know that they can get away with it, or that it will actually help them overall. This may be true despite some of the hearers knowing that it's a lie, and so on down the "we know they know we know" cycle.

Note that this is not just a habitual or a bald-faced lie, which may merely be an individual character flaw. No, this is a calculated, premeditated oppression of the truth at the group or societal level, backed up with a belief that the consequences for this oppression will not reach the liar.

Of course, lies like this don't just happen. It needs a good amount of power behind it. The liar needs to have a large audience, and authority of some kind - scientific, economic, social, or political. If you know that more people will hear and believe your lie than any counterarguments to the truth, if you've paid off the people who might call you out on your lie, and if you can threaten the object of your lie with legal ramifications, then you may be able to lie in this way.

Again, what would this look like? Imagine that the boy who cried wolf is actually the son of the town mayor. Other assistant shepherds who might have seen the dog or the wolf are all in the mayor's employ. Using his office, the mayor immediately sends out a town bulletin claiming that the neighbor who lent the dog is a wolf-lover, while also charging him with not paying his taxes. Then his son can successfully cry "wolf" with impunity.

Has anything like that happened in recent American politics? Yes. Trump has been accused of saying that there were "very fine people on both sides" in an unrest involving neo-Nazi white supremacists in Charlottesville. This accusation is a lie, constructed by completely taking his words out of context. And it meets all of the above criteria for this worst kind of lie:

It's an anti-truth, because Trump explicitly says in the same statement, less than a minute later, "I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists - because they should be condemned totally." But the lie is propagated to say the exact opposite, that he supported these groups.

It's motivated by malice towards Trump, fueling and being fueled by the belief that he's racist.

It uses repetition, having been kept in circulation since 2017 by many people in many places.

It was repeated with impunity by both Biden and Harris in their presidential debates with Trump. These are arguably the two most powerful people in the world, speaking to the largest audience they'll ever have. And their lie was highly calculated: Harris especially, during the debate, was considered to be exceptionally well-prepared and well-rehearsed, and she likely knew that she wasn't going to be "fact-checked" on this point on a friendly network. So they thought that lying about Trump with this smear was going to help them, which means that they calculated that their lying partisan networks would out-lie the truth. Oh, and of course, all this was happening while their administration had Trump under criminal prosecution, and trying to implement policies against "misinformation".

Where do our politics and democracy go from here?

Is this the end of the line of lies? Have we reached the bottom of this infernal pit? Certainly not. We've been lying since the beginning, and every new advancement in communications has brought us new ways to tell new lies. Why should the future be any different? The printing press, radio, and television have each had their share of lies, and our current communications revolution certainly has evil would-be tyrants thinking that THIS will be the tool they can use to work their iniquity. I'm sure that the levels of lying go far deeper than what I've described above, all the way down to hell and its father of lies - but I don't think I have much desire or ability to describe the rest of the way down. So no, we have not yet reached the bottom. And anyway, it's best to focus on the positive, and address the negative only insofar as it applies to specific cases.

It's some comfort to think that America in 2024 can still fall further into this pit - because, of course, we don't necessarily have to. But my assessment is that we're in a lot of trouble. Maybe I’m being too cynical. Or maybe I'm being naive, and politics have always been this way. Or maybe I've already fallen for one of these partisan lies, and this very post is merely the resulting propaganda. In any case, I do think we're living in interesting times, when several historical factors are all converging in on us. And I do think that it's important that we act right, especially in this moment. This requires being able to discuss truth and lies in a clear, intelligible manner.

Note that this is not an endorsement of one side. Clearly, I think that we're in trouble regardless of who wins. But this is not even a "both sides are equally bad" statement. I am not telling you who to vote for. Remember that I dislike politics, and this whole groupthink rally around "endorsements" and such is a big reason why. My chief concern is the truth, and the best way for us to arrive at it is for each of us to independently investigate things, then aggregate our findings. In fact, this is the chief principle behind democracy, and it’s what I hope to assist with by writing this post.

So in order to vote, you should independently consider the myriad of issues surrounding this election. For me, these include countering the racist, sexist, and hypocritical ideology of woke/DEI, improving the economy especially for our poorest and hardest working citizens, having a competent individual as president, opposing election denialism and ensuring a peaceful transfer of power, preserving the American culture that has historically made us so attractive to so many immigrants (including myself), fighting climate change, and working for international peace and healthy relationships with our allies. But all of these require a basic knowledge of good and evil, and the ability to discern truth from lies.

Of course, you will have different concerns than mine. Some of those, I don’t know about, or can’t understand. Some may be more important than the concerns I mentioned above. And maybe some are specifically important to you, in that you may have special expertise or passion for a particular cause. Weigh all these to the best of your ability, considering the fact that you've been repeatedly lied to. Then, independently cast the vote that you think will best move us towards what you think is good. This is how our politics is supposed to work. That's how democracies are supposed to work.

Back up to higher concerns

But in the end, when it comes to "democracy" or "politics", I am an absolute monarchist. My King holds all authority in heaven and earth. My ultimate allegiance is to him and his kingdom. Earthly leaders are legitimate only insofar as they have his mandate. And I like democracy, because when it’s working properly, it just happens to be a good way for us to discover that mandate.

And this makes sense: God has poured out his spirit on us all - we have each seen our visions, and we have all dreamed dreams. We are all prophets, speaking out our unique perspectives on our God-given truths. We are all gods, and all children of the Most High. Given that we are limited, broken, fallen men who have been given such gifts, democracy then makes a lot of sense, as a way to discover what God wants for us as a group.

Of course, the national mandate for America is closely tied in with democracy itself. We are to be that city on a hill, with a government of the people, by the people, for the people - enduring as a testimony that such a city can exist and shine. But today there are powerful engines arrayed against us, telling lies and subverting our independent thoughts through the very communication networks needed in a democracy. Let us work together, pray together, and struggle together for America - that she can still be that shining city on a hill, that we can keep the divine mandate that has made and preserved us a nation, that God's kingdom may come, and his will be done, on earth - even here in America - as it is in heaven.