When I was younger it seemed obvious to all - politicians and politics was about marketing, advertising, and advancing preferred narratives. When I was a kid we joked about how advertising agents were basically paid liars, but we accepted that about them.
We all understood that when it came to finding “truth” it was a messy, chaotic process of the competitive marketplace of ideas.
Suddenly, out of the blue in 2017, we now don’t talk about “dishonest ideas” or “slanted advertising” - we have these new, scientific-sounding terms being bandied about constantly - “misinformation,” “disinformation,” etc.
As opposed to the competitive marketplace of ideas, we have seriously had to beat back the idea of a federal agency being created (the “Disinformation Governance Board”) to tell us what truth is, in response to “disinformation” that of course they, the experts & those in charge, would identify.
(Side note - even though Nina Jancowicz’s MiniTrue board got nixed, the DHS is advancing their planned agenda anyways, it looks like).
The fact is - the idea of the government having any role in “combatting disinfo” is utterly absurd, destructive, & dystopian - because while they’ll justify it by citing extreme examples (e.g. “we need to combat it when people say injecting yourself with bleach can fight COVID”) - we all know full well the urge to police political speech & squelch it, muddy it & corrupt it under the guise of “combatting misinfo” will be too great.
“Disinformation,” “misinformation,” and “malinformation” are fake science terms - they are political labels created to justify the creation of industries, wrapped in the veneer of academia, staffed by degreed individuals with fancy titles whose job will be to give the legitimacy of academia to government propaganda. Period.
Right now it seems like the Left & the Democrats have mostly embraced this - probably because they are deathly aware that the majority of the population is now clearly, increasingly repulsed by their agenda & messaging… they are losing in the marketplace of ideas, and badly.
But imagine a Josh Hawley in charge of a government “Ministry of Truth.” Or a Lindsay Graham.
Reminds me of the old quote - “never bring to a fight anything you wouldn’t want shoved up your own ass later.”
Orwell describes the Ministry of Truth:
The Ministry of Truth is a large, white, pyramid-shaped building with three slogans—"War is Peace," "Freedom is Slavery," and "Ignorance is Strength"