| by Paul Craig Roberts
(September 27, 2012 , Washington
DC, Sri Lanka Guardian) A writer’s greatest disappointments are readers who
have knee-jerk responses. Not all readers, of course. Some readers are
thoughtful and supportive. Others express thanks for opening their eyes. But
the majority are happy when a writer tells them what they want to hear and are
unhappy when he writes what they don’t want to hear.
For the left-wing, Ronald Reagan
is the great bogeyman. Those on the left don’t understand supply-side economics
as a macroeconomic innovation that cured stagflation by utilizing the impact of
fiscal policy on aggregate supply. Instead, they see “trickle-down economics”
and tax cuts for the rich. Leftists don’t understand that the Reagan
administration intervened in Grenada and Nicaragua in order to signal to the
Soviets that there would be no more Soviet expansion or client states and that
it was time to negotiate the end of the cold war. Instead, leftists see in
Reagan the origin of rule by the one percent and the neoconservatives’ wars for
US hegemony.
In 1981 curtailing inflation
meant collapsing nominal GNP and tax revenues. The result would be budget
deficits–anathema to Republicans– during the period of readjustment. Ending the
cold war meant curtailing the military/security complex and raised the specter
in conservative circles of “the anti-Christ” Gorbachev deceiving Reagan and
taking over the world.
In pursuing his two main goals,
Reagan was up against his own constituency and relied on rhetoric to keep his
constituency on board with his agenda. The left wing heard the rhetoric but
failed to comprehend the agenda.
When I explain these facts,
easily and abundantly documented, some of leftish persuasion send in
condescending and insulting emails telling me that they look forward to the day
that I stop lying about Reagan and tell the truth about Reagan like I do about
everything else.
“Knee-jerk liberal” is a favorite
term of conservatives. But conservatives can be just as knee-jerk. When I
object to Washington’s wars, the mistreatment of detainees and the suspension
of civil liberties, some on the right tell me that if I hate America so much I
should move to Cuba. Many Republicans cannot get their minds around the fact
that if civil liberties are subject to the government’s arbitrary discretion,
then civil liberties do not exist. The flag-waving element of the population is
prone to confuse loyalty to the country with loyalty to the government, unless,
of course, there’s a Democrat in the White House.
Rationally, it makes no sense for
readers to think that a writer who would lie to them about one thing would tell
them the truth about another. But as long as they hear what they want to hear,
it is the truth. If they don’t want to hear it, it is a lie.
Both left and right also confuse
explanations with justifications.
When a writer writes about the
perils that we as a society face and the implications, it is very discouraging
for the writer to know that many readers will not listen unless it is what they
want to hear. This discouragement is precisely what every truth-teller faces,
which is why there are so few of them.
This is one reason I stopped
writing a couple of years ago. I found that solid facts and sound analysis
could not penetrate brainwashed and closed minds seeking vindication to keep
the mind locked tightly against unsettling truths. Americans want to have their
beliefs vindicated more than they want the truth. The success of print and TV
pundits is based on allying with a prominent point of view or interest group
and serving it. Those served make the writer or talking head successful. I
never thought much of that kind of success.
But success as a whore is about
the only kind of success that can occur in Washington or in the media these
days. Those who refuse to prostitute themselves arouse pity and denunciation,
not admiration. A couple of years ago an acquaintance from a university in the
northeast called me to say he had recently had lunch with some of my former
associates in Washington. When he inquired about me, he said the response was,
“Poor Craig, if he hadn’t turned critic, he would be worth tens of millions of
dollars like us.”
I replied that my former
associates were undoubtedly correct. My acquaintance said that he hadn’t
realized that he was having lunch with a bunch of prostitutes.
The incentive to speak the truth
and the reward for doing so are very weak. And not just for a writer, but also
for academics and experts who can make far more money by lying than by telling
the truth. How else would we have got GMOs, jobs offshoring, the “unitary
executive,” and a deregulated financial system? It is a very lucrative career
to testify as an expert in civil lawsuits. It is part of America’s romance with
the lie that experts purchased by the opposing sides in a lawsuit battle it out
as gladiators seeking the jury’s thumbs-up.
And look at Congress. The two
members of the House who stood up for the Constitution and truth in government
will soon be gone. Ron Paul is stepping down, and Dennis Kucinich was
redistricted out of his seat. As for the Senate, these thoughtful personages
recently voted 90-1 to declare war on Iran, as the sole dissenter, Rand Paul,
pointed out. The Senate is very much aware, although only a few will publicly
admit it, that the US has been totally frustrated and held to a standoff, if
not a defeat, in Afghanistan and is unable to subdue the Taliban. Despite this,
the Senate wants a war with Iran, a war which could easily turn out to be even
less successful. Obviously, the Senate not only lies to the public but also to
itself.
Last week the Pentagon chief,
Panetta, told China that the new US naval, air, and troop bases surrounding
China are not directed at China. What else could be the purpose of the new
bases? Washington is so accustomed to lying and to being believed that Panetta
actually thinks China will believe his completely transparent lie. Panetta has
confused China with the American people: tell them what they want to hear, and
they will believe it.
Americans live in a matrix of
lies. They seldom encounter a truthful statement.There is no evidence that
Americans can any longer tell the difference between the truth and a lie.
Americans fell for all of these lies and more: Saddam Hussein has weapons of
mass destruction and al Qaeda connections. Saddam Hussein’s troops seized
Kuwaiti babies from incubators and threw them on the floor. Gaddafi fed his
troops Viagra to help them rape Libyan women. Iran has a nuclear weapons
program. Change–yes we can!
The US is “the indispensable
country.” America is broke because of food stamps and Social Security, not
because of wars, bankster bailouts, and a failing economy. Russia is America’s
number one enemy. China is America’s number one enemy. Iran is a terrorist
state. Jobs offshoring is free trade and good for the US economy. Israel is
America’s most loyal ally. The US missile shield surrounding Russia is not
directed at Russia. The South China sea is an area of US national interest.
Financial markets are self-regulating.
The list is endless. Lies
dominate every policy discussion, every political decision. The most successful
people in America are liars.
The endless lies have created a
culture of delusion. And this is why America is lost. The beliefs of many
Americans, perhaps a majority, are comprised of lies. These beliefs have become
emotional crutches, and Americans will fight to defend the lies that they
believe. The inability of Americans to accept facts that are contrary to their
beliefs is the reason the country is leaderless and will remain so. Unless
scales fall from Americans’ eyes, Americans are doomed.