Truth, Lies, and Politics

We live in a postmodern world where often "truth" is just a label used to justify one's position or to smear another's by claiming that their truths are just lies.  We hear people talk about "their truth" or claim "That is just true to you, but not to me", as if truth is just a matter of opinion with no basis in reality.  How about some clarity?

Truth

Truth is that which corresponds to reality.  This includes actual events, actions taken, and objective facts.  It does not include claimed motivations, or whether one thinks something is good or evil.  It is not subjective truth, which is really nothing more than preference or opinion. 

Lies

Lies are a deliberate, intentional distortions of the truth intended to mislead others.  A difference in opinion or assignment of blame is not a lie.  Philosophical viewpoints that one disagrees with are not lies either.  To lie, one must knowingly tell an untruth with the intent to deceive.

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of how one persuasively engages in debate or speech.  This can include exaggerations, ridicule, bragging, or using extreme examples (i.e. reductio ad absurdum) to make a point.  Saying "Everything my opponent said is a lie" is really not a lie, but it is a tactic.  Likewise fear-mongering to motivate one's base is a tactic used to scare people into accepting a position or candidate.

Media

The modern media has a lot of power, since many people only get their information from the mainstream media.  They have been rightly criticized for being unabashedly biased toward progressive agendas and liberal viewpoints.  In many ways, they are the embodiment of 1984's Ministry of Truth.  They tip the scales by biased reporting, MDM (mis-, dis-, mal-) information labeling, one-sided fact-checking, gaslighting to hide the truth, selective reporting, and even redefining words to support their agendas.  

 

Opinions

Differences of (political) opinion and perspectives are not necessarily lies!  Even if the following are objectionable, debatable, or misleading, they are not lies:

• Belief in who was responsible for the security situation prior to/during the riot at the capital. 
• Claims about what the position of each party is on various issues (e.g. abortion limits or lack thereof). 
• Blame for who is responsible for the current immigration situation -- whether it is ultimately good/bad, the integrity of the vetting process, the demographics of border crossers, and the level of danger from it. 
• Why inflation happened and who was responsible.
• Who gets the credit or blame for the economic situation?
• How the status of America in world standing has been affected by different presidents.  Is it respect or is it embarrassment?
• Who caused or got us into wars?  Did they enable it, show weakness, or even enable/pay off terrorists?
• Who will actually destroy "democracy" if elected?  Strictly speaking, do we even have a true democracy or is it actually a constitutional representative republic?

So the next time you hear one side or the other claim that the other is only telling lies, it might be a good idea to push back and actually ask them what they mean by that.