Discussion: Have the Rich, Powerful and Influential ALWAYS been Afraid of the Truth?

I see a lot of posts on Steemit about "Freedom," and "the Information War" and "Truth."

A lot of people are outraged because they don't have the freedom to express themselves as they wish — just look at all the YouTube & Facebook account closings, and such — and there always seems to be an "evil THEY" as part of the equation.

Now, before I get further into this mind dump, understand that I am — by no figment of anyone's imagination — an apologist for "them." But I am also not a rabid follower of paranoia and fear mongering. 

Powerful = Asshole?

The above assumption seems to be a de-facto reality, when you ask most people about someone who is rich, powerful and influential in some way.

Whether we're in the middle ages or in 2018, it seems part and parcel of human nature that those who "don't have" regard those who "do have" as EVIL overlords. 

Which leads me to part one of my mind dump: Does it automatically follow that you can't be a "someone;" a person of interest and influence... without being an asshole? As in, are there only "evil" overlords, but no "benevolent" ones?

I have personally been singularly unsuccessful at becoming an overlord of any kind, I'm told, due to my general willingness to keep facts out in the open and not engage in deceptive behavior to pursue ideals I happen to believe are right. 

I remember, many years ago, having lunch with a friend who was a pretty dedicated "conspiracy theorist," and the idea that there might actually be people in government/power working for our best interests — not just against them — was so alien to him that he just couldn't wrap his head around it.

Then There's the Truth Issue

What IS "Truth" anyway?

And how much information that is no more than "differences of opinion" gets wrapped up as "truth" vs. "lies?"

Let's face it, a LOT of people like to claim their perceptions and opinions as "THE Truth." Whether it's "Jesus is Lord" or "Donald Trump is evil" or "aliens are real," pretty much everybody lives under the illusion that the ideas they carry around in their head somehow represents THE truth.

So what does this have to do with anything?

When we talk about the whole "Information War" thing and wanting people to be transparent and "tell the truth," what are we really asking for? Proof that someone else's opinion isn't in alignment with ours?

What is it we want to be different?

And do we ever pause and reflect long enough to consider how pushing our opinions through "as Truth" will impact others directly? Others — who quite clearly — interpret truth differently from us?

Disclosure, Transparency, Fake News and Such

"They" hide the truth!
"They" keep the truth from us!
We demand full disclosure!

As a totally random example, why is the government keeping "the Truth" about Roswell and aliens from us?

Let's speculate for a moment that the "Truth" about aliens is the the entire human species was "seeded" here by extraordinarily advanced beings in a time hundreds of millions of years in the past, and we're little more than specimens growing in a cosmic Petri dish. And there are thousands of such Petri dishes around our galaxy.

Forget, for a moment, whether that's an outrageous idea or not.

Instead consider the psychological impact on several billion people whose realities are built on a foundation called "God created mankind." Suddenly the very fabric of everything you believed to be "real" turns out to NOT be real. Insanity. Suicide. Mayhem. Blood in the streets.

"Yeah, but they could tell ME!"

Humn... "they" would care about telling YOU the truth, but not anyone else... why, exactly?

Back to the Rich and Powerful

But let's return to the rich and powerful who may — or may not — have gotten where they are, as a result of being an asshole.

Humans are inherently self-serving. Even in acts of idealism and altruism, we're ultimately serving ourselves. 

When we work long and hard to get to a place in life where we feel a measure of comfort — which can be an alarmingly rare thing — it's a pretty good bet we want to stay in that place of comfort.

So the Rich and Powerful — who may or may not be assholes — are pretty strongly predisposed to want to keep what they have worked for. Or manipulated their way to. 

They are not at all very predisposed to handing off loot to "Bob" who complains very loudly and otherwise does very little other than "being unemployed." 

The preceding, of course, doesn't apply to outright criminal activity, although the motivations might be very similar. This can be a bad thing, because the Rich and Powerful now start thinking of themselves as "above the law," which is a bit like "playing God."

Which can end very badly. Watch the series "Altered Carbon" for a poignant example of humans with a God complex. 

Fear of the Truth = Fear of Lack

To finish up with another comparison, the rich and influential are perhaps always going to be afraid of "the Truth" simply because we ALL seem to inhabit a greater realm of reality: That we live in a world of "lack" or "scarcity." 

Whether true or false, we live under a dominant paradigm in which we almost "worship" the idea of more, resulting from the fear that we will "go without" if we lose what we have.

And — within that particular construct — the rich, powerful and influential have more to lose. So they also have more to gain by letting the rest of the world live in a cloud of uncertainty, half-truths and misinformation. 

So what IS "The Truth?"

Thanks for reading!

Where do YOU stand on "truth?" Is it subjective, relative... or absolute? What is "The Information War," to YOU? Is it a general thing, or something specific to information YOU want? What do you need that information for? And what will you do if you suddenly HAVE it? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

created by @zord189

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180525 17:00 PDT