Mistrust in America: Winners and Losers

Winners: Politicians (I sort of covered this in my last post) As we all know, politicians lie. But as most of us don't know, so do our congressmen, not just everybody else's. Recently there was a poll asking Americans whether they would "fire" every member of congress if they could. Over six in ten people said yes,congressional reelection rates are almost always above 80%. Why is this? Because they can convince their constituents that they are different. They are the honest, well meaning one among all of the politicos. They hand out enough favors and kiss enough babies for us to vote for them, and they get to stay in office.

Winners: Ad Agencies and TV Stations. In an age where we do not trust much of what we see, companies (and politicians) believe that the best way to promote themselves is through repetition. Whether they are lying or not, if they tell Americans often enough and for long enough, they will believe it. They run commercials over and over until it is ingrained in the mind of the American people, and they pay dearly for it. For some reason, this method does not work on me: I have seen "Method Hand Wash" commercials so many times that I want to shove some of their hand wash down the bearded guy's throat.

Winners: The NSA, TSA, and all other surveillance organizations. In a world where nobody trusts anybody, they have more work than ever. They have become of ever increasing importance since 9/11, and have gained a lot of power in America. The only downside: nobody trusts them either.

Winners: Social Media Websites. In a time where everybody wants to appear a certain way, have a certain image, look a certain way, etc. people flock to these websites so they can project themselves how they want to, and see the image of themselves that everyone else tries to project. The ease of lying about what you or your life is really like is very attractive to  Americans today, and social media is perfect for taking advantage of it.

Losers: Everyone else. While it may seem overly broad and unreasonable to say that all Americans are affected by this trend, it's true. We are constantly being bombarded by lies or partial truths from everybody, including each other. This leads us to be less intelligent and less informed. We are manipulated and abused by people in power and because of these tendencies can do nothing about it collectively. It seems we are doomed to live in a society of lies and falsehoods.