How they made us doubt everything is a scary BBC series.
The problem is that lies, propaganda and corruption in politics has been exploited by certain politicians. People distrust politicians but ironically the most corrupt, the biggest liars, the greatest purveyors of fake news have exploited this cynicism. Somehow, people like Trump, Johnson and Bolsonaro have made people believe that they alone have the real information and are fighting the establishment. The reality is that they are the privileged establishment. By stirring up conspiracy theories and working on peoples’ fears and dislike they have successfully undermined all experts and scientists.
The scary part of this is that we start to believe these daft conspiracy theories and fake news and start disbelieving the real things.
So there is no global warming, no species diversity problems, no overpopulation, and that scientists cannot be trusted. That we didn’t land on the moon, the earth is flat, the CIA blew up the twin towers and the UN is a corrupt body. We are being controlled by ‘The Deep State’.
This is scary because it opens the door to superstition. If all our media, scientists and government are considered corrupt then we are heading for a new Dark Age.
Now I am cynical. I believe that the wealthy establishment has far too much power, that too many politicians are corrupt, the media is biased and democracy is being subverted – but there are limits.
This new trend has enabled the most corrupt bunch of populists to gain power. I believe they are by far the worst bunch we’ve had since the rise of the 1930s fascists!
This BBC series makes for interesting listening.