Recently saw the "propagandists don't lie" canard a couple times, so I'ma call bullshit real quick. Fiat vox veritatis, ruat caelum.
[Stupid] example: imagine I ask to see your wallet. "I want to look at the leather." You hand me your wallet. "Yes, this is a very nice hide." Then I sprint as fast as I can, taking your wallet with me.
"Oh," you say, "It wasn't a lie. Alrenous really did want to see the leather. But somehow I ended up with a false impression! I can be such an airhead sometimes!
The NYT gets away with this because peasants are cringing and servile, not because they're not lying.
[Literally the first thing I clicked on] example:
"Contending with the Pandemic,"
Lie: it has nothing to do with ncov.
"Wealthy Nations Wage Global Battle for Migrants""
Lie: there is no battle. They're already trafficking as many serfs as is politically feasible. There is no shortage of serfs to import.
That's two lies and I'm not even past the headline yet.
"Covid kept many people in place. Now"
Lie: presenting an old policy as a new policy. This largely irrelevant fact is their excuse to hammer on immigration again, so they can pretend to be a News organization, not an Olds organization. Reality: it's called the Gray Lady because it's run by creaking Regressive zombies so ancient even the bones have gone grey.
(The word immigration always reminds me of immiseration. As it should; they love the misery-spreading effects.)
"several developed countries, facing aging labor forces and worker shortages, are racing to recruit, train and integrate foreigners."
Lie: there is no domestic worker shortage. Labour force participation is down, not up. (Check out the max: nearly 68%.) There is, however, a domestic regulation overburden. This is not an accident or a result of aging or plague controls.
"As the pandemic heads into a third year"
Lie: there is no pandemic. There is plague hysteria about an endemic. Handy, that.
"a global battle for the young and able has begun."
Lie: there are plenty of unemployed young and able in America, but they're Hajnals. No shortage of unemployed Bantu either, come to think, but the DNC (especially) likes them nice and unemployed, so...
That's at least six flat-out lies in four sentences.
This is normal for professional journalists. The job is pure Satanism.
(Is this why Moldbug is considered verbose? He inserts all sorts of not-lies between his lies. Boring, right? Who has time to be not-lied to?)
Later: "Oh I didn't mean to take your wallet, I just love leather that much and got overexcited. Of course you can have the banknotes back...well, as soon as I find them, of course. They seem to have fallen out. Oopsie! Silly me!"
"Did you steal it?"
"No, and even if I did steal the money you don't deserve it anyway. By the way, can I see your wallet?"
"Why?"
"Because the sunset is particularly red today."
"Oh yeah, sure."
"We can still be friends, right?"
"Give me back my wallet."
"My arms are too tired from carrying your fat stacks of cash to give this wallet to you."
"Scandalous incompetence! I'm going to vote against you!"
"It's a free country. Don't forget to vote! 🙃"
4 comments:
As one of the people who said that - I'm making the distinction between (for example) NYT saying "someone was arrested in Kansas", checking court records and finding, yup, he's been arrested versus the vaguely defined sphere of fringe "news" that serves boomers and will say things like "the president of Pfizer was arrested yesterday" when he simply wasn't.
Also was quite clear to note that NYT will write things that are calculated to leave the reader with false beliefs.
"Someone whose job is to lie poorly is lying for real, whereas someone who is paid to lie better is not lying, they're instead [writing things calculated to cause the reader to lie poorly]. It's very important to keep track of this distinction."
No disagreement there; when they use truth they do so only because it's more effective at deception.
Someone who is lying is lying, not not-lying. Keeping track of a distinction of no distinction is bullshit.
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