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4A Daily News– Wednesday, September 26, 2012 Opinion DAILYNEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer's home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. 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How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Unraveling the political art of the repeated lie It is interesting that we are so willing to go along with the fakery and deception. Machi- avelli explained that "the one who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived." Politicians know how to appeal to our basic credulity. We are social ani- mals who respond to the exaggeration and obfuscation. They spin the truth, occasion- ally telling outright lies. Large numbers of people then repeat the latest political hogwash, forwarding it, posting it and replicating it in the media echo chamber. With enough rever- beration, even obvious hum- bug can sound like truth. It is not surprising that politicians stretch the truth. Five centuries ago, Machiavel- li noted that a successful politician had to be as cunning as a fox. A sly political fox knows how to manipulate, ingratiate, provoke and inspire. A good politician under- stands that social life is lubri- cated by white lies and insin- cere pleasantries. We say thank you when we don't mean it. We give unwarranted compli- ments. And we smile and nod even when we disagree. Social life would be cold and hostile if we were unwilling or unable to dissemble. Politicians are adept at Psychological well-being may hinge upon our ability to deceive ourselves in the face of uncertainty and failure. When you make a mistake, suffer rejection, or embarrass your- self, you have to find ways to downplay and ignore the truth so you can move forward. Self-doubt and self-recrimina- tion can be paralyzing. It is useful to fudge the truth about yourself and your own abili- ties. moods of our fellows without much concern for truth. We like to repeat gossip and rumors. We tend to believe and trust those who are like us. We prefer stories that rein- force our other ideas and beliefs, pleasant stories that are easy to understand. No politician is going to admit that public affairs are incredi- bly complex, that human behavior is difficult to control and that unpredictable events will disrupt even our best-laid plans. The politician tells us instead that he or she has a clear plan for success and con- fident knowledge of the situa- tion. And we are glad to believe. We desire certainty in an uncertain world. ary explanation of our ability to deceive and dissimulate. The struggle for prestige There may be an evolution- involves a large dose of bluff and bluster. Outright deception is useful in struggles for scarce resources and in battles for ter- ritory and mates. Mating rituals are obviously colored by deception. We fix our hair, our faces, our clothes — putting on a show for potential mates. These embell- ishments work, even though we know that beauty is only skin deep. Our tendency to fall in love with images and appearances might explain our tendency to believe political bunkum. Guest View Andrew Fiala room and in the ballot box. Of course, this raises anoth- er question: Is it really a "lie" if you sincerely believe it is true? Lying is usually thought to involve a deliber- ate intention to deceive. But the best liars are those who are so sure of them- selves that they don't even know they are lying. In an interesting recent book, "The Folly of Fools," Robert Trivers explains that you will be more effective at lying to others if you are able to believe the lies you tell. The best liars sincerely commit themselves to what they are saying, somehow concealing the truth, even from them- selves. Trivers suggests that the ability to believe your own lies provides an evolutionary advantage. He even argues that good health involves the abili- ty to deceive yourself about your own well-being. Self- doubters will not do very well in the struggle for existence. Confident fakers will tend to succeed in battle, in the bed- back to the political echo chamber. The more a lie is repeated, the easier it is to believe. It is possible, then, that politicians don't deliber- ately lie. They may believe the tales they tell, supported in this belief by the reverberations of partisan advisors and support- ers. We have an instinctive need to believe our own stories and the stories of those like us. Although they may appear to be cunning foxes, politicians may in fact be like the rest of us, herd animals who can't help believing what they hear and what they say. This brings us Andrew Fiala is a professor of philosophy and director of the Ethics Center at Fresno State. He wrote this for the Fresno Bee. Readers may send him email at fiala.andrew@gmail.com. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Economic freedom heads north Commentary over our career prospects and we're suddenly open to moving to Canada." "The wife and I are thinking "Ah, yes, you speak of the results of the Fraser Institute's recently released 'Economic Freedom of the World: 2012 Annual Report.' It shows that Canada is the fifth freest econo- my, whereas America has plunged to the 18th spot." "That's right. It's a real bum- mer to see America fall so far so fast in the rankings." "To be sure. The report says that from 1980 to 2000, the United States was generally rated the third freest economy in the world, ranking behind only Hong Kong and Singa- pore. Between 2000 and 2010, we fell to the 10th spot. In just one year we plunged to the 18th spot!" to fall to 18th on the list?" "Well, the Fraser Institute says that the 'cornerstones of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and secu- rity of privately owned proper- ty.' It uses 42 variables to mea- sure economic freedom in five key areas: the size of govern- ment, legal systems and proper- ty rights, sound money, "What are we doing wrong dom to trade internationally, free- and regulation. America has lost ground in all five." "But why have we lost ground so fast?" difficult to point to the 'specific causal factors of the decline,' but does offer a few possibili- ties, such as abuse of eminent domain, government bailouts, and restrictions brought about by the war on terror. In a nut- shell, as the government does more and regulates more, the less free the economy becomes. And our government has grown massively in recent years." "It has?" "Absolutely. Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that America is no longer at risk of becoming a European-style big- government social democracy — because we already are one." "We are!" "The Fraser report say it's "'From the progressivity of our tax code, to the percentage of GDP devoted to government, to the extent of the regulatory burden on business, most of Europe's got nothing on us,' he wrote. In 1938, the height of the Great Depression, total govern- ment spending — federal, state, local —was 15 percent of GDP. In 2010, it was 36 percent of GDP. And as the government grows, economic freedoms con- tract." "That's not good when you consider eco- nomic freedom is the key to greater prosperity for all Americans." "That is true, too. The Fraser Institute finds that nations that are economically free outperform nonfree nations in indicators of well-being. Per-capita GDP is higher, poverty is lower, life expectancy is higher and political and civil liberties are much greater. Look at the massive success America has had in its history across all of these measures. Look at how we are unable to pay our bills now." eye on Canada." can economy continues to stumble." "Then what are we to do?" Tom Purcell very well. According to the National Post, they began to rise in the economic freedom rankings in 1995. They reined in government and dramatically reduced government spending under former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, a Liberal. Their current Conservative prime minister has maintained the trend. The Canadian econo- my is doing well as the Ameri- "That's why I'm keeping my "The Canadians are doing back to health, as Canada has done." drawing board and reform our tax sys- tem, entitlements and other govern- ment policies. Everyone agrees we need smarter regula- tions, but we also need to balance them against eco- nomic freedom. We need to restrain gov- ernment spending and grow our way "Get back to the "Our political leaders aren't getting along so well these days. What if they don't do it?" "The wife and I will start thinking over our career prospects and we may be sud- denly open to moving to Cana- da." Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e- mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com. ———