441. Lying freedom? Recently, I came across the following quote from Hannah Arendt: ‘Our ability to lie … belongs to the few obvious, demonstrable data that confirm human freedom’. That seems clear: by lying one can avoid moral constraints on conduct, denying or hiding that one has violated them, and lack of constraint is by definition one kind of freedom: negative freedom. However, lies pose an inner constraint: one has to maintain constant control not to do or say anything that will show up the lie. One is compelled to go from one lie to the next. But how about Trump, then? He knows he is lying, feels free to do so, seems to enjoy it, apparently without feeling much or even any constraint. What is more, both his followers and opponents know that he is lying, he knows that, and they know that he does. How can he get away with this? Here are some thoughts on that. First, with this uninhibited lying he sends a message of power and autonomy that his followers like, as a demonstration of his campaign against the political correctness of established elites, with their hypocritical pretention to be free of lies, while everyone knows that politicians inevitably lie. In this way, his conduct is even made into a show of honesty. Second, the lies are a provocation for opponents to catch him out and then fail to prove that the lie is in fact a lie. When he fails to get away with this he blandly denies the lie, lies about the lie, and yes, gains freedom, lack of retribution, which further encourages his lies. In lying to create freedom he creates freedom to lie. He counters with accusations of lies, ‘fake news’, on the part of his opponents and the mainstream media. There is more. His lies are slanted, covertly, with innuendo, to kindle prejudice and discrimination among his followers, making an emotional appeal to hem that binds them closer to him. He needs tweets for this, since his followers hardly read the mainstream media, and are encouraged not to do so with the accusation that those media are involved in a witch hunt after Trump. I sometimes even think that he is deliberately building a back-up of support in case he gets indicted and is about to lose his presidency, a hotbed of rebellion and resistance, ready to break out when called upon.

441. Lying freedom?

Recently, I came across the following quote from Hannah Arendt: ‘Our ability to lie …  belongs to the few obvious, demonstrable data that confirm human freedom’.[i] That seems clear: by lying one can avoid moral constraints on conduct, denying or hiding that one has violated them, and lack of constraint is by definition one kind of freedom: negative freedom.

However, lies pose an inner constraint: one has to maintain constant control not to do or say anything that will show up the lie. One is compelled to go from one lie to the next.

But how about Trump, then?  He knows he is lying, feels free to do so, seems to enjoy it, apparently without feeling much or even any constraint. What is more, both his followers and opponents know that he is lying, he knows that, and they know that he does. How can he get away with this? Here are some thoughts on that.

First, with this uninhibited lying he sends a message of power and autonomy that his followers like, as a demonstration of his campaign against the political correctness of established elites, with their hypocritical pretention to be free of lies, while everyone knows that politicians inevitably lie. In this way, his conduct is even made into a show of honesty.

Second, the lies are a provocation for opponents to catch him out and then fail to prove that the lie is in fact a lie. When he fails to get away with this he blandly denies the lie, lies about the lie, and yes, gains freedom, lack of retribution, which further encourages his lies. In lying to create freedom he creates freedom to lie. He counters with accusations of lies, ‘fake news’, on the part of his opponents and the mainstream media.    

There is more. His lies are slanted, covertly, with innuendo, to kindle prejudice and discrimination among his followers, making an emotional appeal to hem that binds them closer to him.

He needs tweets for this, since his followers hardly read the mainstream media, and are encouraged not to do so with the accusation that those media are involved in a witch hunt after Trump.   

I sometimes even think that he is deliberately building a back-up of support in case he gets indicted and is about to lose his presidency, a hotbed of rebellion and resistance, ready to break out when called upon.

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[i] Quoted in: William Davis, Short cuts, London Review of Books, 18 July 2019.

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