There’s a common element to much, if not most, of the news that flits across the TV screens: lies.
People attempt to add a touch of sophistry to lying, by trying to create classes of lies, but in the end it all adds up to the same thing: saying one thing when knowing that the opposite was correct.
One well-known example: the current president of the United States, Joe Biden, came to office promising a US$15 minimum wage for the country. He also promised to provide medical services for all and forgive at least a part of the billions in student debt.
The man has hardly been in office for six months but he has already made it plain that he was lying when he said those things. Biden just wanted to get elected.
One could argue that the people who believed him were fools. But that does not change the fact that he lied.
Lying is something seen across all classes of people, rich and poor. English is an easy language in which to lie, given the level of ambiguity that it affords.
The only thing that seems to matter to the liars at large is getting away with their cons. They are well aware that lying is much more common than telling the truth, and thus many others in society will not expose them, for fear of being exposed themselves.
There was a time when the word of a man or a woman was as good as a notarised contract. These days, even that contract will not ensure that people can be held to their promises. Lying has become the norm; the person who tells the truth is regarded with suspicion.