BULLSHITTING OURSELVES AND OUR TIMES .....

Or maybe I should title my blog today " The culture of bullshit ".
A main feature of our times, very noticeable and striking, is the new power of bullshit in practically every aspect of our lives, but most damaging of all, is politics and governance. We all contribute our shares, no doubt about it, but when politicians in charge of destinies and entire states and populations, strive and rule by bullshit, it becomes very ugly and dangerous.

Although most people are fairly confident that they can easily recognize bullshit, facts prove the contrary, whereby many or most are continually deceived by professional bullshitter politicians and propagandists .

Bullshit surround us, says Harry Frankfurt, an American thinker/philosopher, describing the launch of the second Iraq war, by America and Britain. Frankfurt asks whether bullshit is simply the same as "Humbug" an expression defined as; Deceptive misrepresentation, short of lying, especially by pretentious words or deeds, of some body's own thoughts, feelings, and attitudes.

Bullshit like humbug or lie is an attempt to deliberately mislead, and a conscious misrepresentation of the way one really sees a situation, aiming to create a false impression for certain situations, developing a mistrust . Bullshit main aim is not only to create a different kind of reality through changing the facts, but rather for the speaker himself or herself to be seen in a certain way.

A political speech for instance, does not necessarily aim to prove some actuality, or facts of a certain situation, its purpose is to make the speaker sound like a patriot, a spiritual person, or a protector of morals and public interests . Everything is about a hoped-for short term effect, that will benefit the leader speaker, while all other stuff are irrelevant, and of no concern as to whether statements are true or not .

The problem with many new-wave politicians, is their total lack of concern with truth, it's becoming their whole way of being, of behaving, in private life and in public politics and governance. These politicians have in most cases mastered the art of running stories and statements, and lately Tweeting, that do not even relate to truth or untruth, they do not have to misrepresent or change the facts, they just spin them in devious ways that support and justify what they are up to, and how they need to manipulate their audiences, so bullshit is the way rather than blatant lies are .

Frankfurt admits that one cannot say whether there is more bullshit now than in previous times, only that the volume is now undeniably great . One reason is that many actual leaders/politicians are called on to talk about matters of which they know little about, so they use all sorts of bullshit tactics, and rhetorics instead of saying "I don't know."

T. Butler-Bowdon, comments intelligently on the subject ; " A lie can shock or startle, but we accept it as being, after all, consistent with human nature. Bullshitting however, particularly when it extends beyond individuals to organizations and governments , is perverse, a corruption of humanity.

A Rejection of the " Authority of truth," in favor of selling or telling various stories . That led to the rise of Hitlers, Stalins, Pol Pots, and Assads. And now in our times Trumps and Netanyahus ,  Erdogans,  and MBS of Saudi Arabia. Bullshit is becoming the accepted norm, even in certain well established mature democracies .

The quotes given here, are mostly from an excellent short study by T.Butler- Bowdon on Harry Frankfurt . My many thanks to them as well as all my readers .