Fake 080417

Trump tells Mexico he will send troops deep into the country to deal with bad hombres.  It appears that Trump's plan for Mexico paying for his wall is to annex more territory than the U.S. seized in 1846.  It to be greater to fulfill his "greatest ever" proclamations.

Trump demands more money from the government to house his Secret Service detail in his Trump Tower.   They elected to move into a trailer on the street, some 40 floors below.  Trump is also gouging his tower Military office for more than fair rental rates charged residents.  Not Fake.

Researchers at the University of Arizona law school studying fake news have identified some types of fake stories. There are out and out hoaxes, that are false probably financially motivated, and intended to deceive.  Examples are Ponzi schemes, real estate development scams and hedge fund managers. Then there is satire, which is a way of calling attention to issues by making points that every one should know are extrapolation of real news.  Think Saturday Night Live and The Onion. 

Propaganda takes fake news to the level of artistic science with news purposefully biased or false and meant to promote a political cause or point of view.  That master of propaganda Joseph Goebbels codified axioms of the art, “If you tell a lie big enough and often enough, people will eventually come to believe it.” “Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”  “Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will.”  The science comes in as manipulating polls and statistics to "prove" or deceive an audience.

Goebbels would have loved Twitter, as twits' tweets become easy prey to fake news generation and propagation. Fake news tweets go around and around.  The public is deceived as more "likes" legitimizes false claims.  Other recent studies of fake news have discovered that it is governments and politicians that are the primary sources of fake news.  It is the legitimate press, which is the enemy of disinformation as solid research, uncovers truths and motivations behind the dissemination of fake news.   This is the reason that the administration is demonizing American journalist.  Make the people distrust the truth and by default they will believe your lies.  While technology speeds dissemination of news it has also facilitated the emergence of biased fake news outlets.   Control the message is the first tool of dictatorships and coups so own the presses.

The social media is the instrument deception.  Anyone can put anything out there and the deceived will bandwagon on a runaway train of lies.  The deceived will never accept that they have been hoodwinked and go to their graves believing the unbelievable.  It is easy to incite a mob with fake news on social media.

The creation of a mob maybe in the short-term interest of politicians.  History shows, however that once a mob is mobilized it becomes uncontrollable spinning off in unexpected directions, producing contrary and undesirable outcomes.