When falsehood is not tagged by coordinators for dubious reason of balance of debate
it is being wantonly unpardonably irresponsible. Opinions and views cannot be
based on lies, it is a basic flaw, the onus is on the system to flag and
rectify it immediately with corrections. It means media must be extremely competent
to the task it is assigned. They must be aware and ready with each and every detail
of the issue with fact and figures from authentic source. If debates are
carried out in ethical vacuum with nobody taking any responsibility it degrades
society, it makes discussion meaningless, it makes debate farcical. Also, we
live in a world where intrusive tech is questioning the very frame of authenticity,
manipulation is being weaponized. People are being bombarded with all kinds of
videos and sound bites that are fake. Meanwhile people are being sedated with
loads of inane information and outrage, and are systematically incapacitated to
think. It is indeed natural progression of neoliberal controlled market media
working on exaggeration and manipulation. Millions of people across the world ruin
their life stuffing processed food which are promoted, indeed extolled, as
smart choice for unthinking people literate enough to efficiently execute their
inflated crave. Entertainers, and now godforsaken influencers, are cleverly promoted
as opinion makers within this charade that has come to define democracy. It is
people's choice. Nothing explains likes of Trump to be even considered seriously. It
is a failure of society. It is also a failure of democracy that frail unfit
Biden is made to assume that he is the only choice left to save the "free world",
while others play tictactoe in the sidelines without any urgency for
increasingly dire situation. Ofcourse they will not have to pay the price, it
is always the common people who will be in misery, while they can easily
position to be savior without taking any responsibility whatsoever and amass
power and influence.
The other day NYT edit asked for Biden to step down from the
presidential race. There was hue and cry from what you thought were sane
people. Some ask why was no such call made to felon Trump. Well, this is classic
case of false equivalence. Trump is the failure of legal system; they could have
stopped him decades back; it is also an indictment of elite section who
indulged and nurtured him for decades despite apparent grievous flaws. It is an
ethical failure. He is byproduct of manipulation. The call to step down is a
joke for him and his supporters since they reached here by gaming the same
system which is now asking them to be fair! Waste of time, or maybe an occasion
for moral positioning for incorrigible few. Asking Biden to quit is about
realism, it is a practical first step in an alarming situation. Lacking critical
thinking or awareness herd -with voting rights, are trained on perceptions, ‘strong
man’ narration is foundational embed. Also, they seek confidence, connection
and sense of security. They need someone to articulate the reality for them
convincingly. Lacking critical thinking they live in logical fallacy of argumentum
ad verecundiam, authority is always right. Hence authoritative figure must
exude confidence, otherwise facts are suspect. In this world attacking the
person weakens the fact! Facts are right or wrong depending upon the person, another
of logical fallacy ad hominem. So, if Biden pauses fact is weakened. Imagine
how degraded the world has become with constant bombarding of misinformation and
disinformation. The reason why Critical Thinking need to be a must subject for
students as also for media (as Taiwanese minister mentioned few years back, we
need nerd defense against herds!). Interestingly tu quoque logical reasoning of pointing
out the hypocrisy can easily destroy charlatans like Trump but that needs
strong articulation, timing and context. These are simple basic needs, and if
you cannot even understand this then what the hell.
