Reality is Broken

What we know to be true can sometimes be a matter of perspective.  Earlier this month, Peter Sagal, host of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, was tweeting about the death and funeral of his mother, of blessed memory.  He mentioned one of the officiants, Rabbi Lila Kagedan, as the first Orthodox woman Rabbi.  The statement is true for many.  But I have met the first Orthodox Woman Rabbi and it wasn't Rabbi Kagedan, but Rabba Sara Hurwitz.  Can they both be the first?  Well, maybe.  You see while Rabba Hurwitz was ordained in 2009 and Rabbi Kagedan in 2015 time is not the only factor.  While Rabbah Hurwitz is seen as the first ordained, some see Rabbi Kagedan as the first with the title and full responsibility of a Rabbi in an Orthodox congregation.  So when that happens, when outside interpretation comes into the conversation that is not only legitimate and understandable, a fact can evolve (or devolve) into an opinion.  This debate will be something talked about in the future.  Both women are trailblazers and in the decades to come will likely be seen as changing Judaism. 

And that is partially the problem in a world where facts and opinions are intertwined and sometimes misunderstood.  But there are objective facts in the world and they must be seen as such and we as a society should share that understanding, but we don't.  David Brooks, recently writing in the New York Times, about the destruction of truth. In the article he focuses on the fact that for some a knowable truth is actively ignored by some for their own emotional convenience.  He writes,  "But Donald Trump doesn’t get away with lies because his followers flunked Epistemology 101. He gets away with his lies because he tells stories of dispossession that feel true to many of them."  This is exactly what Steven Colbert referred to Truthiness almost a decade ago. Brooks goes on the attempt to both-side this argument but in United States today there is one side leading the way to break down the foundation of shared facts.  The phrase alternative facts has become part of the language because a conservative spokesperson didn't like being challenged on the lies of a President.  Let us remember, anything alternative to an established fact is a lie.

Those lies abound in today's political discourse.  Be it the January 6th attack on the Capitol or the medical data surrounding a global pandemic right wing politicians are simply lying about things we clearly have evidence of and when challenged they have the gall to say things like "this is how I see it" or worse "I am just speaking my truth".  No they are simply lying and frankly destroying any possibility of discourse.  Since many are backed by far reaching so-called news organizations, who will repeat the lies as if they are facts many Americans, who like Brooks notes, want to believe the stories being told and repeat them.  Social media amplifies these voices of the misinformed and there is little one can do to change their minds.  (But it can be fun trying sometimes).  If someone states something outrageous and you ask for proof the response is often "Do your own research" or "I won't do your homework".  

The fantasies of so many have become mainstream and thus it creates a universe where provable facts are disputed openly, even in the halls of Congress.  When people think their vision is as legitimate as any other regardless of evidence there is no talking to them.  As a significant number of people claim that President Biden is not the real President despite the functioning government under his leadership, showing them information to prove it doesn't help.  While these people always existed, this is the first time in my life that leaders in the country fed and continue to feed this nonsense.  Next week a handful of books are being released that members of the last administration had reservations in private about the actions and lies of the President, but publicly repeated the lies about the election.  People in positions of authority and had the ability to stop the continued and dangerous rhetoric were nervous about, but for reasons beyond comprehension, continued to feed the anger of people who believed they were disenfranchised and responded violently.  They now are trying to both play hero in print and also pretend it wasn't that bad.  

But this is not about conservative and liberal ideology.  There are people on the left who perpetuate their own set of fantasies.  However, there are few leaders and people in power that blatantly make statements that are in opposition to reality. We can talk about misinformed opinions, that is ubiquitous, but they are not being elevated to positions of leadership over those who are just stating facts that GOP leadership doesn't like.  

When Congress people say things they must know are false, I often think of a line from Dire Straits' song Industrial Disease:  

Now, I go down to Speaker's Corner, I'm thunderstruck

They got free speech tourists, police in trucks

Two men say they're Jesus, one of them must be wrong

'

Indeed one of them must be wrong.  The attack on the Capitol was not like a tourist visit, yes it was violent, yes they had weapons and yes they meant to stop the legal transition of power.  Yes, Covid 19 is dangerous, yest the vaccines will help mitigate the disease's impact on individuals and the public.  Yes, the Earth is not a flat disk floating in space with the sun moving around it (or whatever I don't get the Physics of Flat Earthers)   When we can't fully agree on these fundamental facts we can't debate the real important things.  Like what kind of tax cuts will better help the economy, what laws should be passed to make voting both safe and easy, what industries should the government help support in the energy sector of the economy?  The isn't a functioning partner to have a debate.  There are people, who for whatever reason live in a fantasy world of comfort and are recruiting allies to prop it up.  That truly breaks reality.  Frankly, I don't know if there will be enough metaphysical duct tape to ever repair it.