It's no longer the Information Age, it's the Age of Lies. Lies are bought and sold; there is an enormous, lucrative market for them. That has always been true but now they are respected, repeated, emulated. We are nostalgic for eras in which lies were never or seldom challenged; the Confederate lies, the Madison Avenue lies. People who lie are hot commodities and seem to vastly outnumber people who are paid to tell the truth.
Did yesterday's mass murderer actually target Christians? Nobody knows yet but the story is being passed around as truth because it's such a desirable lie. Did Carly Fiorina see an aborted baby kicking? No, but it doesn't matter because if it isn't true it ought to be. Rod Dreher's book on his sister is filled with lies, stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey with self-deception and thin but boldly stated lies meant to make him look like a much better person than he actually is. Donald Trump lies about everything for the same reason, and because it makes him money.
Does controlling drug prices destroy innovation? It did as long as you never admit it's a lie. Bloomberg publishes McArdle because there is a market for lies and McArdle always comes through with the goods. Demand, meet supply. She will take that lie to her grave because it sells.
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2 comments:
The interesting thing is the patent stupidity of the lies told. Its easy to fact-check or verify these statements, and the liars are constantly called out on their idiotic fictions, yet the lie remains believed. In fact, the dumber the lie, the more people seem to want to believe it.
Maybe it show how much power they have. The liar can say anything, no matter how dumb, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop them.
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