With Trump making six false claims a day and bogus Brexit claims spreading, we live in a disorienting post-truth era. It all began with the David Irving trial, writes Jonathan Freedland
The queasiness keeps coming back, a very specific malady that I thought I’d put behind me nearly 20 years ago. But each time I read about, say, the bogus version of the Lisbon treaty that’s gone viral, or the “malicious hoax” of the Momo challenge, or the rise and rise of the anti-vaxxer movement, the symptoms return, stronger than ever.
If asked by a doctor to describe the sensation, I’d say it feels as if the ground beneath my feet is slipping away, that there is nothing firm or solid to stand on. What triggers it are lies, usually in the public sphere, told by those with power and authority. And it’s not just any old lie, but rather the lie that is smirkingly cavalier in its disregard for the difference between truth and falsehood, that suggests you can never really tell the difference between the two and that it doesn’t matter anyway.
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