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"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can sh
by chrisb 17y ago
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State." - Joseph Goebbels
True in the 1940s and still true today.
If a lie is stated often enough it begins to feels like the truth. I notice this just by reading articles from Chinese 'official' news, how much more intense must it be when in the country itself?
Not that I'm saying the US (and any other country) is 'right' in its dealings with the world either - these issues are never black and white. But the Chinese version of the 'truth' always appears to be the darker shade of grey.
- pasbesoin 17y agoSubstitute the word "institution" for "State", and you have a description that fits the U.S. (and many other places and situations) quite well. Territorial government does not have a monopoly on hegemony nor the avarice it inspires. (Not that I'm defending the Chinese government.)