It’s terrifying how not-together our general human act is, in most places on Earth. Even large, well-funded governments resort to coverups and lies in the face of disasters, even ones that are somewhat to be expected (in general, if not specific timing).
It’s what depressed me most about COVID. Every large country has engaged in various forms of cooking its books related to deaths or hospitalizations, or saving face, with almost no exceptions. China, US, Russia, Japan, Brazil - all of them massaging the counting (and/or restricting publication) so that accurate information is impossible to obtain.
What’s wrong with simply publishing the facts, straight, and telling people how it is? Are governments and those within them so terrified of the weaponization of narrative that the best game-theoretic optimal choice is to lie by default?
politicians are usually held responsible for stuff that goes on during their term, whether or not they could have done anything about it or even if it's a consequence of something the previous administration did. these kinds of nuances don't really come across to the voters, so it's much easier to just downplay everything bad that happens on your watch.
It’s what depressed me most about COVID. Every large country has engaged in various forms of cooking its books related to deaths or hospitalizations, or saving face, with almost no exceptions. China, US, Russia, Japan, Brazil - all of them massaging the counting (and/or restricting publication) so that accurate information is impossible to obtain.
What’s wrong with simply publishing the facts, straight, and telling people how it is? Are governments and those within them so terrified of the weaponization of narrative that the best game-theoretic optimal choice is to lie by default?
Is this really the best we can do?