The latest addition to the lexicon of totalitarianism is "Badfact."
A Badfact is objectively true, but it damages the political narratives of the ruling elite, so everyone must be prevented from thinking about it. The accuracy of the Badfact is never seriously challenged.
A Badfact is objectively true, but it damages the political narratives of the ruling elite, so everyone must be prevented from thinking about it. The accuracy of the Badfact is never seriously challenged.
The most common technique for suppressing Badfacts is the "mostly false" factcheck, which is based not on disputing the accuracy of the Badfact, but on insisting that some mystical "context" is needed to understand the "greater truth" surrounding it.
With this technique, totalitarians convince their victims that thinking about the 100% true Badfact is, in essence, lying to themselves because there is a secret Deeper Truth that is more important than the deceptively simple truth they have been told to ignore.
This tactic builds on the deeply totalitarian notion of the cognitive elite - a special clergy of journalists, Party operatives, and activists who have the special training needed to handle radioactive Badfacts safely. The little people cannot be trusted with dangerous truth.
If the Badfact cannot be buried with propaganda about missing "context," the fallback technique is to attack the motives of those who present a Badfact to the public. The public must be convinced they are Enemies of the People.
This technique frightens the public into believing they will be playing into the hands of powerful and sinister forces by believing the Badfact or discussing it among themselves. They'll be walking into a trap they can't see until it springs shut and crushes them.
Suppressing the Badfact is portrayed as a heroic and noble act - a brave underdog struggle against malevolent supervillains and their nebulous but evil plans. Ignorance becomes a virtue, a courageous act of resistance against a vast and shadowy conspiracy.
Badfact is a totalitarian idea because it treats information like a dangerous resource that must be centrally controlled and carefully distributed. The public must be told what to think and who to trust.
Even more insidiously, Badfact ideology treats *understanding* as a centrally controlled resource. Only the elite can process information and achieve proper understanding. Individuals lack the training and political credentials to process information on their own.
What matters most is achieving the political goals of the anointed elite. The real, ultimate Truth is the future elites will create for us. Today's Badfacts are lies, even though they are accurate, because they obstruct the sacred mission to create a better Truth tomorrow. /end
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