But I don't see what that has to do with what I wrote, which was regarding the pattern of "dishonesty" when it comes to the discussion of reality.
I consider this to be a very dangerous break from our cultural history. There are many examples in history of where this road can lead, but not only are we not exhibiting caution, the overwhelming sense I get is enthusiasm at this development. One probably shouldn't judge the general public in this regard too harshly, but thinking is what the HN crowd is supposed to be good at.
Democracy need a balance and spectrum, otherwise there'll be a One Party System, and people will be rationalizing that too.
History shows us what happens when these sentiments leap out of control.
What I wrote was primarily:
> But I don't see what that has to do with what I wrote, which was regarding the pattern of "dishonesty" when it comes to the discussion of reality.
It is especially interesting when done while accusing someone else of doing the very same thing (the fascinating pink elephant situation in this thread).
Perhaps your goal is to help by even further illustrating this pattern on HN? If so, thanks!
-- the claim that "Steve Bannon used the Facebook platform to call for the execution and public display of the corpses of two public officials" and "This is unambiguously true, Steve Bannon's Facebook page reiterated the claims the same day..."
...combined with...
-- "...for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play."
...when what Bannon wrote on Facebook was a direct quotation of what was said about him, here:
https://populist.press/steve-bannons-twitter-account-suspend...
He even linked to the site where it was said.
I'm not supporting what Bannon has said here by any means, but it boggles my mind why there seems to be this recurring pattern over the last several years where rather than simply using the actual, already more than bad enough words of Trump and his gang to criticize him, instead people seem to need to hyperbole-it-up for added effect. Claiming that Bannon was unambiguously not using a provocative/hyperbolic figure of speech, but rather was literally calling for someone's execution...seems a bit like cutting off your nose to spite your face (note: I am using that expression figuratively - I do not mean that people here or elsewhere are literally cutting their noses off).
To me, much of Western civilization seems like the Movie Lord of the Flies [1].
Lord of the Flies is a 1954 novel by Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The book focuses on a group of British boys stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempt to govern themselves. Themes include the tension between groupthink and individuality, between rational and emotional reactions, and between morality and immorality.
Except in our case, I don't think there are going to be any adults showing up on the scene to stop us from killing each other. Sadly, real life is often not rescued at the last moment as it often is in the movies, as anyone who has read history would well know.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies