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From: slk@mit-vax.UUCP (Ling Ku)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Re: Reagan evil?: re to jj
Message-ID: <413@mit-vax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 14-Mar-86 01:44:33 EST
Article-I.D.: mit-vax.413
Posted: Fri Mar 14 01:44:33 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 17-Mar-86 22:28:06 EST
References: <1623@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Reply-To: slk@mit-vax.UUCP (Siu-Ling Ku)
Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 52

In article <1623@decwrl.DEC.COM> mahoney@bartok.DEC writes:
>
>---------------------Reply to mail dated 7-MAR-1986 19:37---------------------
>
>  This not meant as an attack on Americans more as an attack on human nature.
>Humans tend not to like to hear the truth if it is bad so if someone tells
>them something nice well it makes them feel better.  So politicians tend to 

May I suggest that while this is true, American is afflicted with a higher
degree of gullibility than most other people.  Maybe we are too well fed and
secure, we just can't imagen how people in the third world lives.  I bet
Reagan can't believe there are non-communist third world countries who are
much worst to live in then developed communist countries (like USSR).

>tell people not lies but bent truths so it will make things more palitiable
>and in that way they stay elected.  (The problem politicians run into is the 
>press who tend to unbend these truths and thus they look bad.)  It is this
>cycle they get into that is very hard to get out of and thus they can go
>overboard.  
>
>  As an end I do not condone this and this is obviously not true for all
>politicians.  Most people have told some short of lie in their life so as
>not to hurt someone this is an expansion of that.  I personally think it
>is wrong but only the American people can do something about. (fortunately 
>they can)
>
> Brian Mahoney

This problem is more true in the US then in most other democratic countries.
In other countries, politicians lie just as much but the people elect them
in spite of their lies, not because of it.  The most blatant lies mostly 
deals with foreign policies.  Lies (lets say disinformation) about domestic
policies are trickier, since they are much scrutinized by the Congress and
the press.

The reason why our politicians can get away with a lot of these lies is
that the US populace is not very informed about international affairs.
There is really no solution to this problem unless people in this
country realize our well being relies as much on other people as they
rely on us.  There is a feeling here (not the net, but in general) that
no matter how much we (our DoD, State Dept, President) blunders and mess
other people up, we will be OK, we will still be the strongest, the
richest, the free-est ..  people in the world. I hope it doesn't take a
war that devastates the continental US before people understand that the
US, while strong, is not invincible.

-- 


					Siu-Ling Ku
					{decvax, harvard}!mitvax!slk
					slk%vax@mit-mc.ARPA