An article that is worth your time:
It provides a lot more than just this punchline:
Notice how Locke’s empiricism dovetails with the political principles of natural rights and basic equality. Because all people have eyes and ears and minds, and because we must check and consult with each other to find truth, the many, not just the few, are entitled to assert their own beliefs and contest others’. Epistemic rights, like political rights, belong to all of us; empiricism is the duty of all of us. No exceptions for priests, princes, or partisans.
I remember once reading an article that said before Einstein’s theory of relativity, where it was said only 12 people on earth could understand it, scientists had to explain things so that a lay person could follow and agree with it. Theoretical science blew that all up, and now (in my opinion) scientists are treated like a modern priestly class. They say it. You believe it. Or, you are anti-science.
Yet, the priests of old were not perfect morally or intellectually, and neither are scientists. As Jonathan Rauch notes:
Empiricism is the duty of all of us.
This is quite the thread if you click through:
Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who engaged rioters, suffered two strokes and died of natural causes, officials sayhttps://t.co/V9808REzqF
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 19, 2021
Glenn Greenwald’s article about the situation:
Truth matters. Noble lies are never justified no matter the cause, especially in journalism. But these employees of corporate media outlets have been taught the exact opposite model: that their primary obligation is to please and flatter the partisan agenda and political sensibilities of their audience even if it means lying or recklessly spreading unproven theories to do it. That is their profit model. And they have trained their audiences to want and expect this and that is why they never feel compelled to engage in any self-critique or accountability when they get caught doing this: their audiences want to be lied to — they are grateful for it — and would prefer that they not admit they did it so that their partisan interests will not be undermined.
I don’t care which side of the aisle you sit on politically, the truth matters.
P.S. The article’s author, Matt Taibbi, is not a conservative…so this is not “pro-Trump” piece. It is pro-truth.
Update: Explaining one of the reasons for the lies:
