Post-truth

{{politics}}{{hatnote|For the exact opposite, see [[truth]].}}{{cquote|The problem is the oversupply of facts in the 21<sup>st</sup> century: There are too many sources, too many methods, with varying levels of credibility, depending on who funded a given study and how the eye-catching number was selected.|||William Davies from ''The New York Times''<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/24/opinion/campaign-stops/the-age-of-post-truth-politics.html</ref>}}

'''Post-truth,''' associated with '''Post-truth politics''',<ref name=wordoftheyear>[https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2016 Word of the Year 2016 is… post-truth] Oxford Dictionaries</ref> describes a political culture that focuses more on [[appeal to emotion]] and other [[Logical fallacy|logical fallacies]] {{---}} instead of factual investigation and reporting {{---}} that sways the public's opinion,<ref name=wordoftheyear/> and is used all across the spectrum, from [[wingnut]]s to [[moonbat]]s and [[Balance fallacy|everywhere in between]].

The first known usage of the word "post-truth" was in 1992 by Steve Tesich writing for ''[[The Nation]]'' regarding the [[Iran-Contra]] scandal and the [[Iraq War|1990-1991 Persian Gulf War]].<ref name=wordoftheyear/><ref>[https://www.thenation.com/article/post-truth-and-its-consequences-what-a-25-year-old-essay-tells-us-about-the-current-moment/ Post-Truth and Its Consequences: What a 25-Year-Old Essay Tells Us About the Current Moment: "We are rapidly becoming prototypes of a people that totalitarian monsters could only drool about in their dreams," a Nation writer said in 1992.] by Richard Kreitner (November 30, 2016) ''The Nation''.</ref> Oxford Dictionaries named "post-truth" as the word of the year for 2016 because of "a spike in frequency this year in the context of the [[Brexit|EU referendum in the United Kingdom]] and the [[2016 U.S. presidential election|presidential election in the United States]]."<ref name=wordoftheyear/>

The [[philosopher]] [[Daniel Dennett]] has stated that [[postmodernism]] is responsible for the modern rise of post-truthism,<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/feb/12/daniel-dennett-politics-bacteria-bach-back-dawkins-trump-interview Daniel Dennett: 'I begrudge every hour I have to spend worrying about politics': Truth has long been a key concern for the American philosopher. He’s in the UK to discuss his latest book on consciousness, but there’s just no escaping Trump…] by Carole Cadwalladr (12 February 2017 04.00 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref> but post-truthism has been around for a long time in the form of [[fake news]] antecedents and [[totalitarianism]],<ref>[https://www.philosophytalk.org/blog/postmodernism-blame-post-truth Is Postmodernism to Blame for Post-Truth?] by Truman Chen (February 17, 2017 — 12:14 PM) ''Philosophy Talk ''.</ref> so at best postmodernism is just one cause of modern post-truthism; arguably, it's part of the reason we're now able to so quickly recognise it.

==A shift to individual-based [[authoritarianism]]==
In a {{wpl|Saturday Night Live}} sketch, featuring Alec Baldwin as [[Donald Trump]] and Kate McKinnon as [[Hillary Clinton]]:<ref name=independent>https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/us-election-2016-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-who-wins-post-truth-world-no-going-back-a7404826.html</ref>

{{quotebox|
'''Baldwin:''' Why are you defending her, Erin? [To network interviewer in the sketch].

'''Baldwin:''' Are you a lez with her? Because I’ve heard from a lot of people that you’re lezzing her?

'''Interviewer:''' That doesn’t even make sense.

'''Baldwin:''' It doesn’t matter, Erin, because I said it. And now half the country believes it.
}}

Media outlets in the 2010s and the beginning of the 2020s focus more on the opinions of the individual, rather than agencies that put in hours and hours of researched material. People such as [[Alex Jones]] and Donald Trump are excellent examples of knowledge sources that are individually focused. This type of media asks more of one's own individual identity than mere reading of statistics or stories {{---}} note the instances of personal pronouns in the Alex Jones quote:

{{cquote|'''I'm''' a pioneer, '''I'm''' an explorer! '''I'm''' a human and '''I'm''' comin'! '''I'm''' animated, '''I'm''' alive! '''My''' heart's big, it's got hot blood going through it fast! '''I''' like to fight too! '''I''' like to eat! '''I''' like to have children! '''I'm''' here! '''I''' got a life force, this is a human, this is what we look like, this is what we act like! This is what everybody was like before us! This is what '''I''' am, '''I'm''' a throwback, '''I'm''' here! '''I''' got the fire of human liberty. '''I'm''' setting fire's [sic] everywhere, and humans are turning on everywhere!|||Alex Jones going fucking crazy<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/copypasta/comments/4ya9qi/im_a_pioneer_im_an_explorer_im_a_human_and_im/</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na4GYyJwYjQ</ref>}}

Opinionated media has a strong relationship with individual-based media. Individual-based media asks of one's own mind. This has a stark contrast to group media, which focuses on [[peer review]] and a collective effort. According to ''Time'' magazine:<ref>https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2032138,00.html</ref><ref>http://www.newsweek.com/truth-post-truth-politics-donald-trump-liberals-tony-blair-523198</ref>

{{cquote|Traditional media outlets know that they're losing audience to online media and organizations like [[Fox]], which encourage the kind of outspokenness and first-person voices that poker-faced news pages and evening newscasts have long repressed. They're caught between the old paradigm of [[journalism]], in which authority derives from hiding one's subjectivity, and a new one in which authority derives from being transparent about it.}}

Morals in and of themselves are not logical. Morals embody [[Appeal to emotion|emotions]] and opinions that don't necessarily have a logical ground. Fear of [[homosexuality]] and the opinion that vaccines cause autism are beliefs that aren't based on facts. Yet, people believe in these things. Journalism has morphed from being on [[truth]] to [[truthiness]], "lies which feel right in the gut".<ref name=independent/> People believe in lies because it makes them feel good, in other words lies are {{wpl|opium of the people||,}} because reality is too hard to swallow.

==Orwellianism==
{{main|George Orwell}}
Multiple Orwellian tactics are used to keep a post-truth platform going, showing how Orwellianism functions as a campaign.

*[[Doublethink]]: Often, several parts of a post-truth platform will contradict each other, which both the politician and their supporters will just [[Willful ignorance|blatantly pretend doesn't exist]].
*[[Doublespeak]]: To appeal to emotion, the politician often abuses their words to gain support. For example, when saying [[Islamic]] [[terrorism]], focus heavily on the word "Islamic" to stir [[Islamophobia]]. Say "enhanced 
interrogation
 interviews" instead of [[torture]]. Say we're already equal, or even better, [[feminism]] and anti-[[racism]] are used by the matriarchal, anti-white regime, and must be fixed. Claim anti-racists are anti-white and hate traditional culture. One example is how the majorly post-truth [[GOP]] has done whatever it can to create a tangent between "[[liberal]]" and "[[totalitarianism]]". The right in the US has done whatever it can to make liberalism seem synonymous with authoritarian and illiberal forms of socialism, and has to a certain extent succeeded.
*[[Crimestop]]: Think doublespeak is too hard? Just ignore the issue entirely! Remember to do whatever you can to turn support away from the issue before they begin thinking about it, and make sure they don't like figures that do. This is what took the [[Civil Rights]] movement so long. Their opponents dodged any critical thinking, and their opponents' supporters often just listened to what they said.

In arguing for the federal government's ability to erase the truth of American [[slavery]] in 2026, US attorneys representing Secretary of the Interior [[Doug Burgum]] in the Trump regime wrote:<ref>[https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.648842/gov.uscourts.paed.648842.53.0.pdf City of Philadelphia, Plaintiff, v. Doug Burgum, et al., Defendants] (February 16, 2026) ''United States District Court For The Eastern District Of Pennsylvania''. Civil Action No. 26-434.</ref><ref>[https://contrarian.substack.com/p/orwell-would-cringe Orwell Would Cringe: Trump’s assault on the First Amendment continues] by Jennifer Rubin (Feb 19, 2026) ''The Contrarian'' (Substack).<ref>
{{cquote|Although many people feel strongly about this one way, [[Balance fallacy|other people may disagree
or feel strongly another way]]. Ultimately, it is in this context that the Government
gets to choose the message it wants to convey.<BR>
…<BR>
[T]he message that the Government chooses to convey is for the Government
to choose. I don't get to choose what that message is. And it's our position that the
City [of Philadelphia] doesn't either.}}
In ruling against Burgum, J. Rufe, the judge in the case wrote:
{{cquote|As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s ''[[1984]]'' now existed, with its motto
“Ignorance is Strength,” this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government
has the power it claims—to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain
over historical facts. It does not.}}

==Other key aspects==
*[[Populism]]: Populism is a great tactic when used in moderation, but post-truth takes it way too far, with many relying solely on opposition to elites, often imagined.
*[[Fake news]]: Post-truth politicians and movements, such as the [[Reaganism|Reagan-era]] GOP, often claim the [[MSM]] is a fake news [[conspiracy]] and that actual fake news is real news. This dramatically increased under Trump, who claimed there was a media conspiracy both inside and outside of the party working against him. 
*[[Scapegoat]]: Look at it, every post-truth campaign has one. That one person or group they blame all their problems on. Sometimes, they have several. The [[GOP]] blames the left, [[immigration]], and the anti-war movement. [[Tea Party movement|Teabaggers]] and Trumpians specifically also blame mainstream Republicans. The [[Brexit#Brexiters|Leave campaign]] blamed refugees. [[Nazi Germany]] had several. [[Socialism#Revolutionary socialism|Revolutionary socialists]] blame capitalist [[oligarchy]]. The [[alt-right]] blames everyone who isn't an alt-right heterosexual [[WASP]] natural-born American. They all have at least one. Sometimes, as seen in many alt-right apologists, they will even go so far as to claim that they are the ones that are fighting against post-truth while solely relying on their own post-truth methods, often by using doublethink or doublespeak.
*[[Tu quoque]]: Many go beyond any sort of logical campaign and just criticize their opponents, pretty much running on [[not as bad as]] and [[non sequitur]]s. This is what eventually leads to the creation of problems to fix, when/if they successfully suppress opposition. For example, the Trump campaign almost solely focused on attacking people, with very little actual structure.

==See also==
*[[Bullshit]]
*[[Deceit]]
*[[Fake news]]
*[[Propaganda]]
*[[Truthiness]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Authoritarianism]]
[[Category:Deceit]]
[[Category:Identity politics]]
[[Category:Political strategery]]
[[Category:Political terms]]
[[Category:Propaganda]]
[[Category:Totalitarianism]]

Categories: Authoritarianism, Deceit, Identity politics, Political strategery, Political terms, Propaganda, Totalitarianism