Trumped-Up

“Trumped-up” (adjective): spuriously charged; fraudulent; fabricated.

What happens to the moral fabric of society when members make misleading claims or lay false charges against one another? What becomes of social trust when leaders intentionally misrepresent the reality of what’s going on, so as to exploit the fear, uncertainty, or idealism of the people they have been elected to serve?

Humans have long relied on their ‘common sense’ – our sensory grasp on Reality as mediated by the five senses we have in common – to navigate the situations of life. We’ve also depended on our shared agreements regarding what’s going on. We’re not always accurate in our assessment, and errors have frequently coalesced in broader agreements that are not just mistaken but outright delusional.

Historically there have always been individuals, or classes of individuals like sages, philosophers, and scientists, who call us back to our senses, back to the evidence before us.

Particularly malicious actors who stand to gain much by separating the rest of us from our common sense and moral compass are now going to extremes. They have discovered our naive gullibility for stories that are outlandish and fantastic (i.e., based in fantasy). If they are successful in tapping open our suppressed anxieties, resentments, and magical thinking, a storyline can arc from spy satellites in outer space to dungeons in basements of pizza parlors where sex-trafficking pedophiles devour innocent children.

And some of us believe it. Why not? It could happen, given the crazy ideas and perverse lifestyles of those who are – even now in this very moment – prying into our private lives and stalking our children.

So-called conspiracy theories get their energy from our limited individual perspective on Reality, a naturally wild imagination, and emotional insecurities we try to keep locked away – decidedly not from factual evidence or logical reasoning. When we feel unsafe and helpless, and we just know that somebody somewhere is hatching a plot against us, a story – any story – can provide some needed therapy by drawing a context of meaning around us like a security blanket.

We might compare a present-day conspiracy hack to an ancient storyteller. How are they different? Both make things up. We know for a fact that satellites and pizza parlors exist, and the universe (which a god purportedly created) is obvious and all around us. It’s the idea of hidden agencies and their hidden intentions, that conspiracy theories and religious myths have in common. Things are going on, or once went on, that involve invisible actors with inscrutable motives.

A major difference, generally speaking, is that while religious myths came about as an answer to our human need for security, belonging, and orientation, conspiracy theories are designed to sow distrust, stoke suspicion, and drive us apart.

Leaders (both political and religious) and other social influencers trump up “alternative facts” and conspiracy theories with the goal of breaking the bonds of mutual trust and fellow-feeling that have held human societies together for millions of years.

Leaders know that if this web of sympathy can be weakened and the common folk disconnected from Reality and each other, such an unraveling of the human spirit into isolated threads will make their campaign for autocratic oppression and control as easy as taking food stamps from a baby.

How can we not only resist the lure of trumped-up misinformation and baseless conspiracies, but also bolster our social immune system for the production of freedom, compassion, responsibility, and hope? The following five principles from the worldwide spiritual wisdom traditions offer a time-tested framework.

1. Cultivating inner peace is key to making peace with others. Healthy and happy relationships are not engineered, but grow from the inside-out.
2. Living for the wellbeing of the greater Whole promotes health and happiness for oneself. This includes our families, neighborhoods, nations, and the systems of life on Earth.
3. Opening a larger frame with a longer view on life leads to better choices and fewer frustrations. It’s easier to find our way when we can see more and farther ahead.
4. Letting go of vengeance and practicing kindness instead provides space for damaged relationships to heal and community to arise. The power of unconditional forgiveness was central to the teachings of Jesus. It distinguishes his true followers today from those who merely call themselves Christian (and wear gold-plated cross pendants).
5. Living only for oneself leads to loneliness, hypertension, and an early death. If the four positive principles aren’t motivating enough, then let’s start with some things we’d rather avoid!

Leaders and influencers who trump up fallacies, lies, and misinformation are more successful when their intended victims feel anxious, isolated, disoriented and unmoored from Reality. Besides holding them accountable for their terrorism through the processes of justice after the fact, we can strengthen our immunity and diminish their damaging effects from the start by practicing these principles of wisdom in our daily lives.

We might wish for different leaders, for leaders with humility, integrity, honesty, goodwill, wisdom, and creative vision. We might believe that the current state of things is entirely the fault of incompetent and self-interested officials who trump up lies to grab more wealth and power for themselves.

But we have to be duped for the game to go on. We have to take the poison, abandon our better angels, and step off the cliff for their schemes to work. Or maybe we just look away, stay silent, and pretend it’s not happening.

The revolution begins inside us.