Politicians lying? what a shocking development. By the way one thing that always really bugged me was how every controversial law that is proposed is given a name which is pretty much the direct opposite of what it really intends to do. From the federal right down to my local city initiatives sometimes.
But here's a counter-perspective on polarization: the winners don't get to control the narrative anymore. Both sides are lying rather than just the one who gets the pulpit.
It’s not shocking that any politician would lie. But it is newsworthy when a specific politician lies.
The meme you’re pushing here, that lying for politicians is par for the course and not worthy of note, is pretty destructive: An important part of political discourse is deciding what to believe when.
Hi Erik, I realize that I'm posting on a political topic about politicians. But do you really think this kind of blunt personal argument is necessary? I have to tell you it comes across as rude to me.
And no I don't think it is necessarily newsworthy. A lie about the number of people in some crowd is still just a dog wagging its tail.
Contrary to common cynicism, it used to be extremely rare for (elected and unelected) officials to actively lie. They'd obfuscate, or refuse, or run away. But outright lies? Almost never.
The problem is: given this belief, and how common it is, why should any politician not start lying, taking bribes, etc? After all, everybody thinks they do so, no matter how they actually behave.
I don't believe this was ever the case. I'm a pretty old guy so tell me what bygone era you are referring to and I'll tell you some of the most famous whoppers, from memory probably.
My opinion is just statistics ultimately. No use complaining about the data. And I'm not a game theorist, but as for higher order effects, I'd bet a systems where no one trusts politicians works out pretty well for all players. The real problem, actually, is that too many people trust the lies, which gives liars an advantage over honest candidates.
But here's a counter-perspective on polarization: the winners don't get to control the narrative anymore. Both sides are lying rather than just the one who gets the pulpit.