What We Are Told, The Truth and the Lies

Many of the things we are told by the media and politicians each day are simply untrue. To put it more clearly, they are flat out lies. How does this happen in today’s society? In truth, such things have been happening since the first group of individuals got together and selected a leader. The actual mechanisms for such lies may have changed over the years, but the motivations have not. If someone wishes to effect a change in society, they must put forth their case for that change in the best light possible. For instance, if you were told that the United States Government was printing money and not borrowing that money, in order to support the federal budget, your would most likely, rebel. So what does the government do? It tells you that it is borrowing the money from outside investors, which it does to a small degree, but fails to mention that it prints IOUs to itself for much of the borrowing. This allows the Federal Government to continue the funding for all of the expanded federal programs, which in turn generates support for its policies and eventual re-election of those in charge.

So this begets the question, what are the three biggest lies we are told daily? Well the biggest lie is that of the Social Security Trust Fund. When Social Security was first implemented, there really was a trust fund. All monies collected for Social Security were placed into a special account and those monies were left there until they were needed at a later date. What happened was, our elected officials saw how much money was being collected and stored for Social Security and they realized that if they changed the law, they could use that money for pet projects and vote buying. Most people even now, still think that there is a trust fund for Social Security, but in reality all of the money was spent decades ago and we have been funding all Social Security payments directly out of taxes collected during that current year. For those of us who may be planning to collect their retirement one day, good luck, there is and has been no money for sometime now.

The second biggest lie is the statement, “it’s for the children”. Whenever you hear that statement, run for cover. “It’s for the children” has been used for so many pet projects of politicians looking to get re-elected, that it has lost all meaning. For example, in all states of this union, it is unlawful for children to smoke. There are laws, penalties, and prison sentences for anyone who assists a person under the age of 18 to acquire tobacco, but at the same time, go to any school campus and count how many under age children there are smoking in school designated locations. Furthermore, the Federal Government as well as each state of this nation, has the power to outlaw cigarettes in their entirety, yet they don’t. Why? Simple, tobacco is a great revenue stream for all levels of government. So while they are telling you that they are doing everything they can to help protect your children from first and second hand smoke, they still refuse to do the simplest thing of all, ban them!

Lastly, we are told that “casinos and gambling is a bad thing”, for it brings crime and destroys neighborhoods. I agree that having a casino on every corner is definitely a bad thing, casinos and gambling in general can’t be a bad thing or state governments wouldn’t promote it so much. Read any travel brochure for a state that has a lottery, horse racing, dog racing, casinos or any other form of government gambling and you will see it being promoted. In Georgia, we have the state lottery and every hour on the hour, we hear it being promoted. We are told that the revenues are being used to educate the state’s poor and by playing the lottery we can do good for ourselves and help those in need. How can that be? Since, most of the revenue from the lottery actually comes from the poorest neighborhoods and those most often being educated are from middle class or better families. I contend, whenever a state government tells you that “casinos and gambling are a bad thing”, they are actually saying, any gambling we don’t control and profit from is a bad thing.

Enjoy!