There is a famous quote that goes as follows:
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it,
people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained
only for such time as the State can shield the people from the
political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus
becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to
repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus
by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”Unfortunately, it appears that many politicians as well as the media keep trying to find the "lie big enough" that the people will believe it. But instead of relying on any form of effective propaganda, they keep relying on taunts and name-calling.
So, supporters of the platform of the tea party (less government intrusion and less taxes) are demonized as terrorists or ridiculed as bumpkins. Or the favorite of all, they are equated to racists or even Nazis.
Similarly, those who refuse to fall lockstep into the mantra of "mankind is the cause of global warming, or climate change, or natural disasters, or weather, or whatever we choose to call it today" are considered fair game for criticism. The latest example comes once again from Al Gore, the champion of environmental purity, equating those who refuse to accept the theory of manmade global warming to racists.
It is clear that there are many people as well as many scientists who question the veracity and certainty of the theory of manmade global warming. If they do not dispute the theory outright, then these naysayers might point out that it remains but a hypothesis that has not been proven. Or they might fall in some middle ground where they believe that mankind does indeed contribute to global warming, but not to the degree that advocates desire. Or perhaps these so-called "racists" accept the idea of global warming, but do not agree with the precept that mankind is the sole cause of such warming or with the dire predictions of calamity to come in the near future.
If one does not accept the concept fully and completely, then he or she must be wrong. You accept the lie or you do not, end of story; there is no middle ground.
For so many years (at least since Al Gore determined it could be big business), the idea of manmade global warming has been championed by businesses hoping to capitalize on a green revolution especially with new products and new regulations forcing the public to use those products. Other champions have been found in the government seeking to use the threat of climate catastrophe as a means to further control the lives of the public as well as tap into the wallets of those businesses, for clearly no crisis real or imagined should go to waste. And then there are the scientists whose entire careers are built upon funding by government and business for research that will support the climate catastrophe claims.
And for many years, it did appear that manmade global warming and climate catastrophe might be a lie big enough. But its supporters could not shield the people from the economic and political consequences. Instead, they attempted to over-reach with talk of carbon trading and taxes and greater restrictions on the lives of people.
Then, there was evidence of manipulation of scientific research and of the destruction or loss of scientific data, as well as admissions that some data had in fact been misinterpreted. By chance, the misinterpretations always appeared to support ideas of even greater catastrophic calamity, and never less. None of these allegations and circumstances have ever been adequately explained. Instead, the supporters just continue trumpeting the same information over and over, ignoring any flaws, errors, mistakes, lost data, lack of support, lies, etc.
And now they are reduced to name-calling or, in one recent Al Gore speech, cursing.
For that is all that they are left with in order to "repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie."
That quote that started out this column? It was from Joseph Goebbels, propaganda minister of Nazi Germany, who knew a little something about lies and suppression of truth.
And maybe his quote makes the title of Al Gore's infamous book and documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," a little more clear.
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it,
people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained
only for such time as the State can shield the people from the
political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus
becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to
repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus
by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”Unfortunately, it appears that many politicians as well as the media keep trying to find the "lie big enough" that the people will believe it. But instead of relying on any form of effective propaganda, they keep relying on taunts and name-calling.
So, supporters of the platform of the tea party (less government intrusion and less taxes) are demonized as terrorists or ridiculed as bumpkins. Or the favorite of all, they are equated to racists or even Nazis.
Similarly, those who refuse to fall lockstep into the mantra of "mankind is the cause of global warming, or climate change, or natural disasters, or weather, or whatever we choose to call it today" are considered fair game for criticism. The latest example comes once again from Al Gore, the champion of environmental purity, equating those who refuse to accept the theory of manmade global warming to racists.
It is clear that there are many people as well as many scientists who question the veracity and certainty of the theory of manmade global warming. If they do not dispute the theory outright, then these naysayers might point out that it remains but a hypothesis that has not been proven. Or they might fall in some middle ground where they believe that mankind does indeed contribute to global warming, but not to the degree that advocates desire. Or perhaps these so-called "racists" accept the idea of global warming, but do not agree with the precept that mankind is the sole cause of such warming or with the dire predictions of calamity to come in the near future.
If one does not accept the concept fully and completely, then he or she must be wrong. You accept the lie or you do not, end of story; there is no middle ground.
For so many years (at least since Al Gore determined it could be big business), the idea of manmade global warming has been championed by businesses hoping to capitalize on a green revolution especially with new products and new regulations forcing the public to use those products. Other champions have been found in the government seeking to use the threat of climate catastrophe as a means to further control the lives of the public as well as tap into the wallets of those businesses, for clearly no crisis real or imagined should go to waste. And then there are the scientists whose entire careers are built upon funding by government and business for research that will support the climate catastrophe claims.
And for many years, it did appear that manmade global warming and climate catastrophe might be a lie big enough. But its supporters could not shield the people from the economic and political consequences. Instead, they attempted to over-reach with talk of carbon trading and taxes and greater restrictions on the lives of people.
Then, there was evidence of manipulation of scientific research and of the destruction or loss of scientific data, as well as admissions that some data had in fact been misinterpreted. By chance, the misinterpretations always appeared to support ideas of even greater catastrophic calamity, and never less. None of these allegations and circumstances have ever been adequately explained. Instead, the supporters just continue trumpeting the same information over and over, ignoring any flaws, errors, mistakes, lost data, lack of support, lies, etc.
And now they are reduced to name-calling or, in one recent Al Gore speech, cursing.
For that is all that they are left with in order to "repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie."
That quote that started out this column? It was from Joseph Goebbels, propaganda minister of Nazi Germany, who knew a little something about lies and suppression of truth.
And maybe his quote makes the title of Al Gore's infamous book and documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," a little more clear.
- AH
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