Why Do People Believe Liars?; Autocrats & Militaries
Memorial Day reflections
Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all new subscribers. Thank you to the more than 300 people who attended last night’s Q&A. I will have a video of my initial remarks out to you in the next days.
I talked about the effectiveness of banning corrupt and violent demagogues from running for office again if they are convicted (Bolsonaro’s appeal was denied); why Justice Alito flew those flags, and more.
Our next Q&A will be Sunday, June 2, 8-9pmET, with guest Hawa Allan. She is a lawyer and writer and author of the illuminating book Insurrection. Rebellion, Civil Rights, and the Paradoxical State of Black Citizenship.
Paying subscribers will receive a link to register for the Zoom gathering that day. If you’d like to join these amazing conversations, you can sign up as a paying subscriber or upgrade to paid here:
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Today is Memorial Day in the United States, and my thoughts are with all of you who have lost loved ones who served. We can have a special appreciation today for those who fought the autocratic Axis in World War Two and gave their lives for global freedom.
Here are two essays from the Lucid archives that seem relevant today.
This piece explores what happens when autocrats (mis)use the military, and the grave consequences that has had on those militaries and the world.
Deprofessionalization of the armed forces is a common outcome. “I am still trying to understand what happened to our institution, how officials I knew and respected came to commit the acts they did,” a Chilean officer who retired just before the 1973 coup reflected in an interview with journalist Mary Helen Spooner years later.
The other essay, “Why Do People Believe Liars?” examines the reception of autocrats’ fantasies and falsehoods. Adoration for the strongman due to a belief in his propaganda is only half the equation. Many people have been convinced to plunder, kill and jail others on the basis of those lies.
Stay safe on this holiday, and, as always, stay lucid.
Ruth
As a retired dentist, I have used as my “handle” on certain social media: “Fighter of Truth Decay”, - and I have written “Letters to the Editor” in our local, Miami Herald about this very subject. I quoted President Obama in one piece who said: “these days, it seems that not only do we not have to tell the truth, but the truth doesn’t even matter.” It is a sad day when “truth” itself, ceases to be a beacon of integrity for us humans to aspire to. Without truth, what’s left? While lies have been told by many throughout history, I blame Trump who has made lying almost ‘normal’ behavior in our everyday-lives. What other president can boast that a major newspaper (The Washington Post) dedicated itself to keeping a daily tally of how many lies Trump told each day during his presidency? That number, according to Google, is 30,573. This number is astonishing enough; but what is worse, are the number of Americans who don’t seem to care and actually embrace this pathological, narcissistic man to be their president. God help us.
Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar's guest essay in The New York Times, "I've Seen How the Biden-Trump Rematch Ends, and It's Pretty Scary," is food for thought. Reflecting on 1996, he sees it as a cautionary tale. "In America today," he writes, "I frequently hear that the fate of democracy hinges on the coming election. I agree. But as Russia's experience shows, it's never as simple as just defeating the bad guy."