In a world of false news, massive distortions of reality, state sponsored misinformation, the crazy bias of our national broadcasting institutions and the mass hysteria of the viral social network fib, it’s heartening to see that the art of the small lie is alive and well and living comfortably in our part of the south coast. Cynical? I think not.
The fallout from a multitude of small lies affects countless people every day. Misrepresentations of the truth, distortions of facts, total fabrications, myths cultivated in the rancid manure of paranoia can destroy a reputation, disintegrate friendships, bear into the heart and soul of a victim who will often have no recourse and no shields to erect except pride and knowledge of the truth.
To witness a team succumbing to the ‘truth’ of lies, to see them desperately attempting to conform to an alternative version of reality which fits their own needs to be seen to conform to the group, is sickening. To see one or two break cover from this hysteria to embrace reality even if it’s difficult, is heartening and encouraging of human nature.
I’ve seen this happen to a friend over recent days. Groups of chimpanzees are known to set about lone chimps, perhaps to torture and kill them so as to remove them from a group. Nobody’s killed or tortured anyone here, but what I’ve witnessed is an absolute parallel with this sort of behaviour.
There’s nothing that can be done, of course. History, as they say, is written by the victors. The history here will be a lie, because the truth was too difficult for individuals to bear and the group fabrication was an easy way out.
So really, this was just a rant.