Skip to main content

Post-truth and 2016


2016 is bidding adieu having gifted us ‘post-truth’ as the word of the year, thanks to the Oxford Dictionaries.  Is the concept new, however?  Haven’t emotions and personal beliefs been more influential in shaping our ‘truths’ than objective facts throughout history?  Otherwise, why did religions and their gods continue to wield such power over us perennially?  Nationalism, Jihadism, Trumpism, Modiism, and a whole range of isms would not have succeeded as they did if objective facts held sway over shaping of public opinions.

‘Post-truth’ is just a euphemism for falsehood, deception, chicanery and all the lies that have dominated politics and human affairs from time immemorial.  There’s nothing new about it except that it’s a new word.  Only the word is new, not the concept, not the implications.

Throughout history political leaders used various tricks to deceive their people.  We have words like Machiavellian and Goebbelsian which came from real people who used inhuman strategies for suppressing if not eliminating whole sections of people.  India has its own historical Chanakya.  They were all masters of post-truths. 


The electoral victory of Donald Trump and the triumphal march of Narendra Modi, along with Brexit and the imminent collapse of European Union as well as the ever-resounding missile attacks by god’s own warriors, indicate that 2017 is going to be hard for most people. 

In India, we will soon have two idols dedicated to the religion of post-truth, both of which will cost the nation more than Rs 3000 crore each (441,260,829 USD). Both Shivaji and B R Ambedkar, whose statues are being installed in very prominent places, were historical figures, no doubt.  But why these two and not any other?  One is a symbol of the Hindutva ideology which Mr Modi is trying to impose on the nation and the other is a palliative balm for the Dalits and the oppressed sections that will continue to suffer many atrocities as they always did.  The motive is the post-truth. 

In a country where thousands of people go to bed hungry each day, thousands of children suffer from malnutrition, thousands keep migrating to cities in search of jobs, thousands don’t have drinking water, thousands of farmers commit suicide  – in a country where people are still struggling to retain basic human dignity, statues costing thousands of crores of rupees are the post-truths.


Indian Bloggers

Labels:

Comments

  1. जितेन्द्र माथुरDecember 31, 2016 at 1:05 PM

    Your viewpoint is rational but in the corridors of power who pays two hoots for logic and rationale ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 31, 2016 at 2:25 PM

      I know. Maybe I can make at least some people think about alternative options.

      Delete
  2. K.A. AcharyaJanuary 1, 2017 at 9:32 AM

    Post-truth will always remain powerful as long as human beings have feelings. Sadly, the emotions, which are necessary for being a good human being, are also the weaknesses that fall victim to all these propaganda :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 1, 2017 at 9:44 AM

      The vast majority don't use their brains for thinking. That's the simple comic truth. Hence venal politicians can get away with their silly tricks.

      Delete
  3. sunaina sharmaJanuary 1, 2017 at 7:12 PM

    Yes, you correctly point out that post-truth has always been there - only the word is new. Emotions have been a major instrument for hushing facts and political leaders know well how to make best use of emotions- the year begins on an uncertain note. Only time will tell what happens next.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 1, 2017 at 9:09 PM

      The new year gift is a rise in prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. The currency crisis is set to burgeon. It's not at all a promising beginning.

      Delete
  4. UnknownFebruary 23, 2017 at 11:41 AM

    Whole house water filters - Shop best quality filters in the US. We are providng whole house water filter, softener and water conditioners at Best Prices.
    Providing the Best range with best Quality of whole house water filter, KDF MediaGuard, Reverse Osmosis Water Filter, Color Changing Resin Deionization in latest Design with Latest Technolgy at your door on reasonable prices in the US.

    For more information you can check it out here : http://titanwaterpro.3dcartstores.com/Whole-House-Water-Filter-Water-Softener-Conditioner_c_20.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownMarch 20, 2017 at 12:48 PM

    Big Blue Water Filter - Shop Best Quality Big Blue Water Filter System, Micro Sediments, Big Blue Housing Filter at Reasonalbe Prices in Los Angeles, US.

    Providing Purify, Fresh, Hygenic water through our best quality with latest technology used Big Blue Water Filter, Dual Big Blue Housing Filter System, Mico Filter, Sediments,Filter Cartridge in Los Angeles, US.

    For more info you can check it out here : http://titanwaterpro.3dcartstores.com/Big-Blue-Water-Filter-_c_13.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownMarch 24, 2017 at 11:31 AM

    Nurse Practitioner Liability - Np Error includes Failure to provide oversight, Breach of Contract, Patient is harmed, Harm is Foreseeable in New Jersey, US.

    According to Recent Case Law Physician had a duty of care to the patient of an NP, even through the Physician never saw or evaluated the patient and the Facts are Dr. had a Collaborative Practice Agreement (CPA) with NP, who owned her medical practice.

    For more info about Nurse Practitioner Liability you can check it out here : http://www.medzel.com/service/nurse-practitioner-liability-new-jersey-us/

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
47 comments
Read more

Re-exploring the Past: The Fort Kochi Chapters – 3

Street leading to St Francis Church, Fort Kochi There were Christians in Kerala long before the Brahmins, who came to be known as Namboothiris, landed in the state from North India some time after 6 th century CE. Tradition has it that Thomas, disciple of Jesus, brought Christianity to Kerala in the first century. That is quite possible, given the trade relationships that Kerala had with the Roman Empire in those days. Pliny the Elder, Roman author, chastised in his encyclopaedic work, Natural History (published around 77 CE), the Romans’ greed for pepper from India. He was displeased with his country spending “no less than fifty million sesterces” on a commodity which had no value other than its “certain pungency.” Did Thomas sail on one of the many ships that came to Kerala to purchase “pungency”? Possible.   Even if Thomas did not come, the advent of Christianity in Kerala precedes the arrival of the Namboothiris. The Persians established trade links with Kerala in 4 ...
10 comments
Read more

Re-exploring the Past: The Fort Kochi Chapters – 4

The footpath between Park Avenue and Subhash Bose Park The Park Avenue in Ernakulam is flanked by gigantic rain trees with their branches arching over the road like a cathedral of green. They were not so domineering four decades ago when I used to walk beneath their growing canopies. The Park Avenue with its charming, enormous trees has a history too. King Rama Varma of Kochi ordered trees to be planted on either side of the road and make it look like a European avenue. He also developed a park beside it. The park was named after him, though today it is divided into two parts, with one part named after Subhash Chandra Bose and the other after Indira Gandhi. We can never say how long Indira Gandhi’s name will remain there. Even Sardar Patel, whom the right wing apparently admires, was ousted from the world’s biggest cricket stadium which was renamed Narendra Modi Stadium by Narendra Modi.   Renaming places and roads and institutions is one of the favourite pastimes of the pres...
10 comments
Read more

Five Microtales

1.        Development             Chamar, Lohar, Mehtar and many others stood at a distance, along with their families, and watched their huts being pulled down by a bulldozer. They were asked to leave the place where they had been living for decades. “The government has taken over this land for development works,” an officer said. Chamar, Lohar, Mehtar and the others spread their bedsheets under a flyover over which flew opulent vehicles of development.   2.        Impersonation             The old woman went to the Women’s Welfare office. She wanted to register herself for the Prime Minister’s monthly welfare scheme for the old and unemployable women. She placed her thumb on the scanner for Aadhar authentication. “Not matching,” the officer said. She was arrested for trying to impersonate. Sitti...
8 comments
Read more

Re-exploring the Past: The Fort Kochi Chapters – 1

Inside St Francis Church, Fort Kochi Moraes Zogoiby (Moor), the narrator-protagonist of Salman Rushdie’s iconic novel The Moor’s Last Sigh , carries in his genes a richly variegated lineage. His mother, Aurora da Gama, belongs to the da Gama family of Kochi, who claim descent from none less than Vasco da Gama, the historical Portuguese Catholic explorer. Abraham Zogoiby, his father, is a Jew whose family originally belonged to Spain from where they were expelled by the Catholic Inquisition. Kochi welcomed all the Jews who arrived there in 1492 from Spain. Vasco da Gama landed on the Malabar coast of Kerala in 1498. Today’s Fort Kochi carries the history of all those arrivals and subsequent mingling of history and miscegenation of races. Kochi’s history is intertwined with that of the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British, the Arbas, the Jews, and the Chinese. No culture is a sacrosanct monolith that can remain untouched by other cultures that keep coming in from all over the world. ...
7 comments
Read more