Myths intended to conceal reality

We have a lot of government generated myths intended to conceal reality going around these days.  In fact, just about anything that has been identified in the past five years as a conspiracy theory (myth) seems to have ended up actually being the reality.  

The myth of Russian influence on the 2016 election

The Russian collusion myth

The myth that monetary policy no longer matters 

The myth that all social problems can be solved by taxing the rich without negative consequences to the economy

The myth that government intelligence services are not collecting information on US citizens. 

The myth that abandonment of Afghanistan was a necessary and beneficial policy

The myth that de-policing and abandoning the judicial and carceral system will not have a negative impact on crime (violent and property)

The myth that taxing the wealth of the rich will close the deficit. 

The myth that masks would slow Covid spread

The myth that mRNA injections would immunize people, had no side effects, and would stop the spread 

 

Covid was without doubt a natural occurrence and not man made  

 

Covid could not have escaped from the Wuhan Viral Institute 

 

The myth that school lockdowns would have no educational consequence

The list goes on.  Anyone who contested the above myths was labelled a conspiracy theorist and frequently targeted for social or career punishment and often were de-platformed and muzzled.  

But as the teacher in Ecclesiastes points out, there is nothing new under the sun.

In 1977, Milton Friedman gave a lecture on . . . Myths that conceal reality.

Double click to enlarge.

The five myths he focused on were:

1) the Robber Baron Myth (the idea that the wealth of the industrial revolution was achieved by the impoverishment of the working class.)

2) the Great Depression Myth (that the depression arose from a failure of the commercial sector rather than a failure of government)

3) the Demand for Government Service Myth (that the expansion of the government roles and responsibility has occurred due to citizen demand)

4) the Free Lunch Myth (that the government provision of goods and services comes at no cost)

5) the Robin Hood Myth (that the government transfers resources from the rich to the poor when it mostly transfers resources from the wealthy and the future to the middle class of today.)