As I mentioned previously, I have been tucking away notes for years on topics that I thought might be worth writing about.  I was reviewing my pile of notes today and came across one that I found frightening.  It pertains to the following quote:

“…in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.

It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.”

This quote is a bit thick, and you may need to read it several times to realize the full message.  Bottom line, as I read it, the author is suggesting that it is not that difficult to convince people of big, elaborate lies.  All people tell small lies but would never consider telling a whopper because they can’t imagine anyone believing it.  For this same reason, they cannot believe that anyone else would make up something colossally untrue, even if the facts prove it to be untrue.  They accept the lie on an emotional, rather than conscious / logical, basis and will continually look for other explanations to refute the facts and defend the lie.  Finally, even after the lie is exposed it will leave traces behind it that can rekindle emotions or serve as a basis for future unsupported accusations and lies.

This frightens me because of how effectively it is being used by all kinds of sources stemming from every social, political, and religious persuasion.  It is a part of our everyday lives.  Whether it is someone quoting statistics out of context, news sources that report facts and opinions in a way that blurs the differences, bullying social media posts, using outliers and questionable sources to defend a position, or the multitude of other methods employed to hide or distort the facts, we deal with this numerous times every day.

It would be very easy for me to cite some examples of the big lie being used in our lives, but all this would do is encourage those who like my example, and offend those that don’t.  Further, citing examples would ask you to believe that I have identified the big lies, that I am the oracle of the truth and that you should accept what I say is true.  While I hope that I have prepared myself to identify fact from fiction, I am not going to suggest that you trust me, and I am admitting that I, as much as anyone, can be drawn in by things that appeal to me emotionally.

What I would ask is that you don’t accept anything at face value.

• If you hear or read something that doesn’t quite make sense, take the time to do a little bit of research on it (it’s pretty easy these days with the internet).
• When you see commercials that try to appeal emotionally take the time to check out the sources and disclaimers that appear at the end.
• Whenever you hear someone making accusations without any supporting evidence, ask yourself why they aren’t?  Take the time to see if there is any evidence to back up the accusation.
• Don’t accept that one source is enough to prove something is indeed fact.

My local television station has a segment they call “Verify”.  This is the mission of VerifyThis.com: “VERIFY is dedicated to helping the public distinguish between true and false information…”  In every segment they list their sources and there are always at least three.  (Note, the fact that we now have sites like “VerifyThis.com” and “FactCheck.org” is a sad statement on our society, but a blessing to our society.)

For those of you who don’t know where the quote I included at the start of this article came from, it is a translation of a passage in Chapter 10 of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.  When he wrote it in 1925, he was arguing that the Jews had used the Big Lie to explain Germany’s loss in World War 1.  Subsequently, Hitler himself became the most prolific and effective user of the Big Lie, resulting in the death of over six million Jews, and countless others that the Nazis considered racially or biologically inferior (gypsies, Slavs, homosexuals, etc.).  We must learn the lessons of history and avoid the Big Lie.  We cannot afford to have a history like Hitler’s repeat itself.

Footnote:  I checked three separate sources on this translation of Mein Kampf.

P.S. Bottom line, I can “believe” that the Chicago Cubs will win the World Series every year.  However, at the end of the day I have to realize that this is a “wish”, and (sadly) it isn’t often supported by the facts.