Lies, Damn Lies and Coronavirus Statistics
By
Cognitive Dissonance
“Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.” – Otto von Bismarck
'When it becomes serious, you have to lie.' - Jean-Claude Juncker, former President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019
We all lie. Of this there is no doubt. And anyone who tells us otherwise is lying. While there are a billion and one reasons to lie, there is only one purpose…to gain advantage, leverage or to maintain, consolidate or increase power over our children or spouses, other family members, friends or unrelated individuals, groups large and small and even entire nations.
At its most innocuous, a lie may be considered small, kind, even considerate. Often, we tell little ‘white’ lies designed to sooth or placate a loved one or close friend. At its worst, a lie is designed to kill or injure physically, financially, socially or emotionally.
Ultimately, no matter how harmless or devastating it is, a lie is at its root a power play, information warfare employed to disarm, confuse, convince, steal, disable or destroy. We tend to treat lies, especially lies told to others that have an effect far removed from ourselves and our interests, with benign disinterest or even mild amusement. It’s only when the proximity is close or we feel we are targeted do we become righteously indignant and demand justice and restitution.
The dirty little secret is that for far too many of us, we welcome, even beg to be lied to. Not all lies, of course, just those lies and half-truths that enable us to remain safely cocooned within our own inner narrative, our customized worldview or belief system that neatly packages everything into a more easily digestible and comforting ‘reality’.
Ultimately, we believe exactly what we wish to believe, not withstanding contrary facts or truth. Those who lie to us for personal gain or power know this psychological tendency quite well and use it to their full advantage. They tell us what we want to hear and let us do the heavy lifting of swallowing the lie whole and unexamined. This makes their lie our truth. We now own it and will often defend it to the bitter end.
Not surprisingly, believing something can be quite easy. All one must do is believe, meaning not resist whatever it is that is to be believed. Just go with the flow and let the current grab us and sweep us away. But disbelief, now that’s an entirely different matter, especially when one is disbelieving ‘officially sanctioned’ belief.
Here’s the thing about anything that is officially sanctioned. Regardless of whether it is true or false, believable or not, it sets the standard of acceptable thought and action. A line in the sand is drawn and, for now at least, we are welcome to treat it as we wish. But, if we want to move within the circle of officialdom and power, something we all must do to some degree or another, this line must be respected and adhered to.
To be officially sanctioned is to be granted reality and bestowed with authenticity, to be made real and tangible, to be of substance and form. Once woven from invisible thread and blessed by official decree, while not impenetrable or indestructible, the officially sanctioned narrative stands strong simply because so many people support it, if for no other reason than indifference, servile compliance or self-enrichment.
This is the primary benefit and consequence of living within an authoritarian regime, one where edicts and power are wielded from the top. And yes, the United States of America is an authoritarian regime, a police state even, carefully disguised and promoted as the home of ‘democracy’, freedom and justice for all.
Within this carefully contrived construct, to disbelieve, especially an official truth or fact, requires a rational and logical man or woman to attempt to counter the official belief with facts, figures and alternative ‘truth’. One must displace the previously declared belief with alternative belief that is true (or at least truer than the official belief) and believable, an entirely subjective assessment based almost entirely upon our prior programing and propaganda infiltration and assimilation. This, in turn, feeds into and supports our personal worldview.
This can be a fool’s errand, for how does one combat an officially sanctioned illusion based upon nonsense, subterfuge and propaganda, along with a smattering of facts to lend credibility and plausible deniability, with something as flimsy as hard evidence, documented official lies and demonstrable true facts? As silly as that sounds, when interacting with and refuting widely held beliefs, facts and evidence are the last thing people will accept. This is because our worldview is an emotional construct loosely based upon stray and often contradictory factoids.
Rarely can we summon the courage and fortitude to fully refute official edicts, for nearly everyone’s personal opinion and belief is just that, opinion and belief. We are emotionally compelled to embrace our belief as factual truth so we can maintain our inner narrative. We have been conditioned to believe our inner narrative is who and what we are, so to challenge our narrative is to challenge ourselves. That is truly our inner boogie monster.
Since beliefs are rarely supported by facts, they cannot be overturned by mere facts. There must be an emotional concession, possibly even a collapse, before we become willing to accept that not only do alternative facts and realities exist, but they need to be seriously examined and even accepted, then infused into our own inner narrative construct in order to modify and enhance our perception of the world and our place within it.
The primary reason why this is rarely done is because once we begin to jigger with our inner narrative recipe, many other critical components suddenly come into question. Facing a radical and critical self-assessment, the tendency is to settle back into the soothing embrace of our previously accepted and comforting narrative. Best not to upset the apple cart.
I follow a simple process when attempting to determine if an official belief should actually be believed. Watch what the officials behind the promoted belief do and not what they say. What China is doing, essentially locking up hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens in quarantine, or at the very least severely restrict their travel, speaks so much louder than their words.
As of the date of this article, China officially admits to more than 700 million people subjected to either full blown quarantine or travel restricted to their immediate apartment building or neighborhood. Think about that for a second. We are speaking of twice the population of the United States of America prevented from exercising free movement. Every single time China has assured us things were getting better, or at least no worse, they increased the number of people under quarantine and implemented even more drastic measures.
Their actions do not match their words. Even their Coronavirus statistics appear pulled from thin air. Nature does not play out in perfect circles, straight lines or exponential curves. Yet the statistics promoted by China are so unnatural in their near perfection they defy belief. Even the expert health officials from established western nations are beginning to question the Coronavirus numbers coming out of China.
In my opinion China is lying, proven by what it is doing rather than what it is saying. And given similar circumstances, the rest of the world, including the USA, will do the same thing if, and when, presented with similar Coronavirus infection circumstances.
Notice I am not attempting to refute China’s official assertions with regard to the Coronavirus using facts or statistics. Though based upon what is being released, that would not be too hard to do. Instead I am following a simple methodology. Liars lie in order to misdirect attention and undermine alternative data and supposition. They lie to gain power or to support and consolidate existing power.
A liar will rarely act in concert with their lie unless doing so furthers the lie and/or their ultimate goal. Regardless, at some point their actions will diverge from their edicts and official pronouncements, and this is usually the unofficial indication of lies, damn lies and, in this case, Coronavirus statistics.
While I am not one to declare the sky is falling, I do recognize that risk to my person by governments, both foreign and domestic, must constantly be assessed and re-assessed. While the Coronavirus may turn out to be less than its potential, the possible risk for disaster, even here in the USA, is high. And when risk is high and the effort needed to help mitigate that risk is relatively low, only a fool continues to heed the soothing lies of officialdom and fail to take simple steps to prepare.
With tongue firmly in cheek, Mrs. Cog and I call this risk mitigation and preparation process Pre-Panic. An eyes-wide-open process of risk assessment, followed by prudent preparation of home, body and mind, goes a long way in avoiding panic entirely. Only when we have dismissed obvious risks and are nearly completely unprepared do we humans engage in panic.
Maybe it’s time for you to engage in the Pre-Panic process.
Cognitive Dissonance
02-17-2020
