Monthly Archives: March 2018

“Fake News”

Philosophy, Politics

Since Donald Trump first came down the escalator some two years ago to announce his running for the Presidecy we have been hearing a lot about “Fake News”.  This comes mostly from the Right and is usually applied to anything they hold to be an attack on them.  The use of the label “Fake News” has gotten so prevalent we rarely, if ever, hear “Liberal Biase” of the press.  What is interesting to me is that This epithet, while new in words, is not new.  All ‘Fake News’ is, is “agitation & propaganda” (aka Agi-Prop).  And it has been around for a very very long time.

The problem with using this new label by the Right is that they have been so successful in the use of agi-prop since the late 1940’s in this country is that few people in the the middle and even few on the left take them seriously.  For far too long the Right has told the country about the 57 ‘communist’ agents (which were never shown to exist) to eminent threat to white women if we let N…. live in ‘our’  neighborhood to all the elections that had hundreds of illegal aliens voting.  The Right has had it too easy for too long.

It is time for everyone right, Left, Middle of the Bird need to say ‘Enough’ to the Right’s Agi-Prop machine.  Get your act togeather and do a proper job.  You’ve become the Used Car Salesman of politics.  No one really beleaves you anymore.  No more can you say “I believe this, so it is a fact”, nor I have my facts and you have yours.  Facts, are Facts.

Let me be very very clear, even in politics, facts are simple things and you can not just pick an  choose what is and isn’t a fact.  To put it quite simply a fact has to be more than a belief or opinion.  It has to be objectively demonstratable.  A fact is not just something you read in on the internet, their must be hard, demostratable, data supporting it.  Just because report supports your beliefs or makes you feel good doesn’t make it factual.  Indeed, you need to be  suspicious the report because it does support your beliefs.

Finally, I want to say this to the GOP, if you don’t want go the way of your political predecessors you need to get a handle on the Rights Agi-Prop machine.  You need to have Facts, not Alt-Facts, not Beliefs, and not Opinion to salt your Agi-Prop and you need to stop over using ‘Fake News’.  The Right is the master of ‘Fake News’ and we all know it.

What Facebook, and Cambridge Anaytica tells us

Philosophy, Politics, Socioeconomic

The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings.’

– Lewis Carrol

Some may think it strange that I start what should be a very dry and serous post with a quote from one of Lewis Carrol’s more nonsensical poems, but bear with me for a bit and it shall be all made clear.

With the news that the Company that is self acknowledged as being a hard core political marketing (read Agitation/Propaganda) organization violated the terms of use of Facebook it has forced the body politic to face up to the facts.  An just what facts are these?  Simply, that what once started out as computer age equivalent of gathering at the local Pub/Saloon/Coffee Shop/back fence and talking, that is Social Media has reach full maturity and has been co-opted by the Con-men.

Make no mistake about it, we are no longer just talking about people being creative in their sales pitch.  We are talking about people using social media to look deep into our pyche’s and use are deepest fears to manipulate and control us.  An just like the oysters in the poem, will will be betrayed and consumed if we do not do something now!

It is time  for all governments of the Free World to take action.  Here in the USA it is time for the GOP to stop viewing the Russian actions in the 2016 election thru the distorting glasses of partisan politics.  It does not mater who won the election in 2016, it is done and over.  What maters is that hidden agencies used improperly  gleaned personal information to craft fallacious activities in our body politic.  Do not say “This is just an Internet issue.”, it is not.

Rather think how you would feel if someone was able to observe all of your reading/shopping/casual  conversations and then sent in undetectable agents into your favorite local Bar/Coffeeshop, where every you gather with friends to talk, to use what they know of you to feed you lies.  I don’t know about others but I would feel violated, betrayed and badly misused and I’d want to both put a stop to it  and to  wreak just revenge on the perps.

So the time has come to talk of many things:

Of Social Media – and accountability – and visibility

Of freedom – and politics

Of why our rage is boiling hot

and if Politicos have courage.