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May 16, 2023·edited May 16, 2023Liked by Dustin Wright

I like the new blog title. I get nervous when Truth is conflated with any method which is subject to our human biases. The point of the post is valid. The distinction between mis- and dis- information is critical to determining the societal responses that would be appropriate. Also, opinion is not information and should be excluded from this discussion. I would add that parody is off limits as well provided it is obvious and not made to appear authentic.

Another distinction I would add is the authority of the source. Publishers who hold government office, physicians, law enforcement, and news organizations have a fiduciary duty to the public to provide accurate and unbiased information and not violate the public's trust. This is hard to sustain, and I'm concerned that this principle has been abandoned in the current period.

It has been replaced with the ethical rationalization put forth by Plato, the Noble Lie. In this worldview there are some ends in society which are so vital that any means to achieve them, including disinformation (aka lying) is justified.

These fiduciary organizations have been compromised in their function by their personal beliefs in causes that they view justify "the Noble Lie". This can be saving a population from pandemics, to saving a nation from a particular elected official, to saving the planet from a climate apocalypse.

The final Durham Report, released on May 16th, 2023 (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/special-counsel-john-durhams-final-report), documents one such disinformation campaign that involved the highest levels of the US intelligence community conspiring with a political candidate to destroy the opposition candidate and his administration. This conspiracy was joined by many news organizations and perpetuated for years. Sometimes a conspiracy theory turns out to be an actual conspiracy.

The rational societal response should be to hold these fiduciaries accountable for this breach of trust by discounting any of their information regarding other stories now or in the future. Office holders should be removed from positions of power and news agencies should be purged of disinforming idealogues. The current state is corrosive to the effectiveness of self-government and threatens its future.

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