You know, the internet is a wonderful thing, revolutions have been born and sustained on it, information is available at the touch of a button, what would once have taken weeks to research is now at the fingertips of even the most luddite amongst us, which is why I am constantly amazed at the amount of bullshit that people post. You know how it goes "Our way of life is under threat, faceless people in power are taking away our rights and demanding that dangerous communist ideas be taught in school" cut and paste to your profile if you're a real patriot.
A few days ago a friend posted a similar message to the above, along the lines of "schools are afraid to recite the pledge of allegiance for fear of causing offence" cut and paste etc. I looked at this and wondered, then I Googled, and guess what? Yep, no such story, no school that I could find had any problem at all with reciting the pledge.
So why does this matter? Well all the people who had "cut and pasted" obviously believed that this was the case, that schools were having a problem and that their way of life was under threat, it wasn't true but they believed it to be true and beliefs have consequences. Which is of course why it was put out there in the first place. You see, once the genie is out the bottle you can't put it back, ask anyone who's ever been defamed in print, no matter how many retractions are printed they never lose the stain.
Paranoia is running rampant throughout western society and the US has more than it's fair share. Thanks to an overabundance of lawyers (The US has more lawyers than plumbers) we have the most litigious society in the world and everyone is paranoid about being sued. this breeds an atmosphere like a tinderbox waiting for a match and one cut and paste could be that match. Beliefs matter, beliefs inform our actions, if I am convinced that child abductions are on the rise (they're not) then that may cause me to check out my neighborhood for convicted sex offenders but just what am I supposed to do with that information? A few years ago in the UK after a particularly tragic and very widely publicized case, gangs went on the rampage in towns and cities pulling suspected pedophiles out of their homes and beating them up. One case involved a Pediatrician being beaten by a group of morons who didn't know the difference.
Stolen kidneys, Facebook charges, compulsory Muslim holidays, foreign call centers, these are all recent and on-going BS urban myths doing the rounds and they won't go away, the stolen kidney one has been out since the 80's and I'm still hearing it! But the most insidious are the political slurs, everyone knows that Nancy Pelosi demanded a 737 to use as her personal plane right? Or that George W. Bush waved at Stevie Wonder? Except of course they never happened, but otherwise sensible people repeat these myths because it suits their agenda, they want it to be true so they just cut and paste, what harm can it do right?
Well it does a lot of harm. We live in a society with a very limited attention span, politics is a sound bite game, a bumper sticker is about the maximum amount of information that Joe the plumber can assimilate so, "Pelosi demanded a 737" fits, as does "No more Taxes" or "Don't tread on Me" The truth "Well it's a bit more complex than that, we have to start....zzzzzzzzzzz" That's not gonna cut it, so cut and paste a few non truths, a few on the button phrases and we're away. Make people scared, make them think they are under threat, keep the paranoia bandwagon going, don't encourage critical thinking, turn on the tube, relax, eat more chips, you know the Canadians are just lining up to take advantage of the US health system, yeah, I heard about this one guy....
Next time someone tells you something that sounds like you want it to be true, check it out, Google it, don't be a part of the problem, check your facts before you publish! Above all don't believe everything you read.
P.S. There aren't more lawyers than plumbers, it just feels like it.
Rant over.
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