Some Tactics of Truth Evasion

Truth and communication represent two major themes here at seekingGood.  Cognitive scientist George Lakoff has commented frequently in recent months regarding specific statement and the general presentation of the current “Loser President”.   Communication can be a tricky business–all the more so when the speaker has no intention of either presenting truth or allowing the truth to be presented.  Lakoff has highlighted four specific tactics (depicted below) the current president uses in his tweets.  Each is designed to evade the truth in any given situation.  None of them are particularly unique. However, each is a tactic well worth understanding such that you can watch for them as you read or hear anything from anyone.

Taxonomy of Trump Tweets

via Trump’s Twitter Distraction — George Lakoff

An Interview with Noam Chomsky

Chomsky-DemocracyNow

In a 70-minute Democracy Now! interview with linguist and political theorist Noam Chomsky, Mr. Chomsky addresses a wide range of topics, including the current U.S. presidential administration’s tactics, healthcare, Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election, as well as issues related to North Korea, China, Syria, and Israel.

Mr. Chomsky offers what, for some, will seem startling statements regarding the rise of neo-liberalism during the late 70’s.  While the term “liberalism” often connotes “openness” and “freedom”, the interests of advocates of neo-liberalism (perhaps better referred to as laissez-faire economic liberalism) come into conflict with the very notion of democracy—that is, free participation of the general public in its own governance.

On many social issues, proponents of this form of liberalism might be at odds with what many might call right wing or conservative.  However, these neo-liberal factions began to see open democracy as “out of control”, posing a “threat” to the achievement of a neo-liberal agenda.  According to Mr. Chomsky, these socio-political elements called for stronger indoctrination in neo-liberal ideas through educational institutions, a more heavy handed control of mass media and the overall pacification of the general public.

Along the way, Mr. Chomsky also touches on topics such as (1) why Americans are led to believe Iran poses the greatest threat to world peace while world opinion sees the U.S. as the true threat, (2) the surprising increase in mortality among white Americans (particularly men, due to diseases of despair), and (3) the disparity between actual U.S. governmental policies and the well-being of middle and lower income portions of the American electorate.

Agree with him or not, as always, Mr. Chomsky offers interesting and provocative ideas worth considering.

Noam Chomsky is a US political theorist and activist, and institute professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). For decades, Mr. Chomsky has remained a staunch critic of American foreign policy, the neo-liberal advocacy of globalism, the empire-building hegemony of the United States and the manufacture of public consensus by the so-called mainstream media (MSM).

Noam Chomsky’s website

The full collection of Mr. Chomsky’s appearances on DemocracyNow!

Shhh…

… something is rotten in the state of America!

 “One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution;
one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”
~ George Orwell, 1984

free-press-and-censorship

The truth is hard to come by.  These days, truth about current events, the state of the U.S. government and its various controversial machinations have become particularly difficult to obtain.  Throughout U.S. history the idea of a “free press” has been the corner stone of an informed public.  If we do not gain information—”truth”—through the news media, how can we ever know what is actually going on around us?

A Call for More Investigative Journalism

Traditionally, White House news briefings have provided news agencies—which is to say, us—with direct access to the President.  February 2017 exclusions of major news outlets from such a briefing as well as alleged false statements from White House press secretary Sean Spicer have caused some to wonder if investigative reporting might be the only viable means of obtaining news related to actions of the U.S. government.  A specific appeal was voiced in a recent article that appeared in truthdig.

sean-spicer(White House press secretary Sean Spicer)

The ever widening divide between the executive branch of the U.S. government and the news media has become a major problem.  Previous decades found journalists bridging this gap when the need arose.  Yet now it appears something is broken in American journalism. For fiscal reasons, many major news outlets (particularly print media) have largely curtailed the practice of news-worthy investigations that manage to bare what some might attempt to conceal. Yet given the state of media relations in the U.S., a “receptive” approach to news gathering may no longer serve the goal of maintaining an informed public.  An era of “alternative facts”  seems to cry out for a return to more vigorous, independently probative journalism despite economic constraints.

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