A slippery beast called Truth

Friday, 3^rd April 2020

            The truth is a slippery beast. Just ask Socrates who said, ‘The only thing I know is that I know nothing.’ Humble man, Socrates; very clever but aware that wisdom is hard-won. He did believe, however, that if he asked enough people about a certain subject, the truth would emerge as a consensus opinion. In times like these, when information is key to how we as individuals, and communities, and nations, behave in response to the pandemic, the truth should be sacrosanct.

But is it? Certainly not in Turkmenistan where the word ‘coronavirus’ has been banned from use in the media or health information brochures along with the wearing of masks. This is surely the equivalent of a toddler holding their hands over their face and thinking they are invisible.

           Start lying, citizens of Turkmenistan, or the puppy gets it...

And the truth in Brazil is being given a makeover with Jair Bolsonaro describing the virus as a ‘little flu’ and questioning the closing of Rio de Janeiro’s beaches: ‘Beaches are outdoors. What’s that all about?’ he asked. Well, Jair, many people believe (thus fulfilling Socrates’ definition of the truth) that the virus can survive outdoors and that the wearing of a thong and a layer of sunscreen is not enough protection to keep it away.

So, what about the world’s largest democratic country, the good ol’ US of A? Well, they’ve had to increase the security around Anthony Fauci, the country’s foremost epidemiologist, who has been stood next to Trump answering the questions Trump doesn’t wasn’t to (most of them, but especially the ones that involve the pre-frontal cortex). The reason for this increased security is the high number of death threats and online abuse, all for the same reason: Fauci is ‘undermining’ the president. With the truth. I suppose if you have extreme narcissistic personality, decry all negative news as ‘fake’, and lie about almost everything, then the truth might look a little unfamiliar. Dangerous, even… Contrast Trump’s approach to the truth with that of Socrates: I am stupid therefore I know everything.

It seems Trump and Bolsonaro and President Gurbanguly Berdymukammedov (try saying that after a few stiff G&Ts) of Turkmenistan know that the truth is just too much for ordinary citizens.

‘You want answers?’ asks the Jack Nicholson character (Trump) in A Few Good Men.

‘I want the truth!’ answers Tom Cruise (the angry citizens).

‘You can’t handle the truth!’ snarls Nicholson/Trump.

‘But I want it; it’s my right,’ say the citizens.

‘Alrighty, then,’ says Trump, ‘I’ll give you the truth: a lot of you are going to die a horrible death, turning blue as your oxygen levels plummet lower than the Dow Jones, and we’re not opening the country back before Easter, and I did molest every good looking woman that ever came within six feet of me, and I am scared of the dark and sharks and words with more than three syllables. I am bald and overweight and haven’t had an erection in seventeen years and I wish I was Kim Jong-Un because everybody does what he says all the time and he can eat as much cheese as he wants. There, I’ve said it. Are you happy now?’

And are we? Can we handle the truth? The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? All of it? Isn’t that like eating a whole chocolate cake? So how much truth is enough?

It was obfuscation of the truth in the Chernobyl disaster that made it so much worse, the management at the plant and then the local politicos desperate not to receive any blame and pretending it wasn’t very serious despite the nuclear reactor fucking exploding in a green neon light show and watched by the residents of Pripyat as radiation fell like snow all around them. And it was a similar tale in Wuhan, under another communist regime where the truth is ‘managed’ and the general populace are kept on the dark side of the moon. You know, for their own safety...

‘The truth will set you free,’ Gloria Steinem said, ‘but first it will piss you off.’

The truth is often inconvenient to communists and liberals alike (it was Labour that had their own 'spin' doctor in Alastair Campbell). And before we get too pious, how many of us have lied (or hidden the truth) from our own children? What kind of parent wants to deliver truth verbatim to their innocent little faces:

‘You know what, Samira, while we’re on the topic of truth, let’s get it all over with in one go. So, there’s no tooth fairy, Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny. I don’t like Daddy’s mum, your Grandma Liz, and Daddy isn’t in fact your daddy because I cheated on him with the man you know as Uncle Len. You aren’t actually my favourite; I do like your little brother more than you, and your legs won't drop off if you don’t eat any vegetables. Oh, but the coronavirus is killing thousands of people every single day and it might kill me or daddy or you or your little brother even if you do wash your hands and stay inside. There, I have set you free, Samira. Run and play. You can thank mummy later.’

Latest data for the UK (as of 10pm):

Infected: 38,168

Deaths: 3,605

Celebrity Deaths: 1 - Eddie Large

People I know who are infected: 2 (my boss, my teaching assistant)

Song of the Day: ‘Truth’ – Alexander (one of my favourite songs, ever)

Thank you for reading my blog, whoever you are, wherever you are. It warms my little heart to know that you are out there. Please share my blog with anyone you know who might enjoy it. 

Tomorrow, is a celebrity Q&A so full of good cheer or 'giggles and shits' as my son would say. Take care, keep well, tell someone close to you that you love them. xx P.Krow (Esq.)