Rule by virtuous lie

I used to think there were subjects so important that public officials would never lie about them. Nuclear war for instance or an earth-wide pandemic. Then gradually it became clear that no one, not even politicians at the highest levels, consciously makes decisions about whether to tell the truth however important the matter.

Adherence to reality is more a question of bureaucratic habit. There’s a saying that habit eventually becomes character and character eventually becomes fate. Nowhere is this truer than in the lives of civilizations. Lie enough and it becomes second nature. Organizations, and indeed whole societies, by this process eventually become prisoners of their own lies.

The most alarming thing about the new Woke culture is that it assumes there is no consequential difference between the lie and the truth. That it is all a matter of spin. In that sense Woke is not even a mode of thought but a kind of terminal arrogance, a conceited zero. It is the state of mind of a Ponzi con man who convinces himself the pyramid will never bottom out; that the music will always. Except that with the con man there is the subconscious awareness the music will someday stop. For many true Woke believers there is not even that.

When the reckoning comes it will affect everyone who relied on the falsehood, whether deliberate or not. They Woke are careless people. They throw parties with imaginary guests all waiting around for the arrival of the most magnificent feast from a caterer who does not exist.