Dangers of a Post Truth World
Our Politicians are Killing Us with their Dishonesty and Cowardice to face the Truth about Global Warming
Confronting Truth in a Post-Reality World
Watching Pete Hegseth argue with the press about intelligence reports reveals how deeply we've descended into a post-truth society. "Obliteration" hardly describes damage to nuclear facilities that can be rebuilt in two months, yet here we are, living in a world where reality itself has become negotiable.
This is the same society that attempted to deny the results of the 2020 election and now treats due process as optional depending on one's skin color. Reality deniers—primarily in the GOP—refuse to acknowledge that giving Trump a Boeing jet constitutes a "gift," that the president's cryptocurrency venture isn't graft, or that the "Big Beautiful Bill" won't strip millions of their healthcare coverage. It requires even less imagination to deny that global warming is real and demands urgent action.
While late-night comedians can still find humor in our Alice in Wonderland reality, the post-truth world becomes less amusing when we place an anti-vaccine advocate in charge of Health and Human Services and a news presenter at the Pentagon. This shift is already inflicting lasting damage on our democracy as we imprison people for expressing dissenting views.
The Climate Crisis Reality Check
Mike Berners-Lee, brother of internet inventor Tim Berners-Lee and author of There Is No Planet B and How Bad Are Bananas: The Climate Footprint of Everything, offers sobering insights in his latest book, A Climate of Truth. His assessment is stark: people worldwide "haven't got anywhere with the climate crisis," and fossil fuel use continues to increase.
"We're making the climate crisis worse by a larger amount every year than we did the year before. We're accelerating into the problem," Berners-Lee explains. Rather than renewable energy saving us, we're simply adding solar and wind power to meet our insatiable energy demands while failing to reduce carbon-based fuel consumption.
As Berners-Lee notes:
"At a physical level, certain truths about the energy system are that we need to consume less energy, not more. This point doesn't receive nearly enough discussion. We hear talk about assisting humanity in meeting its growing energy needs. However, we don't have a growing energy demand, especially not in affluent countries like ours. We see efficiency improvements in every conceivable product and service. As long as we capitalize on these savings, this should allow us to reduce our energy consumption, but without reducing the total, the transition is impossible. This point is not emphasized enough. Even with all the renewable energy sources in the world, if they simply supplement fossil fuel usage rather than replace it, it will be of no benefit."
The Polycrisis We Face
This climate reality exists within what Berners-Lee calls a "polycrisis"—a convergence of biodiversity loss, plastic pollution (especially microplastics), and declining land fertility. He calls on the public to combat "greenwashing" and maintain high standards of honesty.
"There are so many people saying, 'The problem is so big.' [People ask], is there anything meaningful they can do? I say, 'Yes, there is, if you insist on high standards of honesty,'" he explains.
Unfortunately, we seem destined to ignore these problems until crisis forces action. Meanwhile, our political leaders continue their destructive path while building bunkers, planning trips to Mars, or flying around in commandeered 777 jets.
The Truth Deficit
Democrats should clarify that while they don't claim ownership of truth, they believe in reality-based politics. During Trump's first presidency, The Washington Post Fact Checker documented solid evidence of his false claims—averaging 21 per day throughout his term. This frequency increased from six per day in his first year to 39 per day in his final year. On November 2, 2020, alone, he made 503 false or misleading statements.
Trump and the GOP continue spreading lies because they work. Public Interest researchers found that repetition of Trump's false claims increased Republican belief in those claims while actually decreasing Democratic misperceptions. This builds on research into the "illusory truth effect," which shows that repetition increases belief in both true and false statements.
Democrats must consistently highlight that the GOP has become the party of lies, unfit to govern. A party that cannot agree on basic facts, truth, or real threats cannot effectively lead. We cannot be governed by those who, like children believing in the tooth fairy, refuse to acknowledge reality—especially regarding the climate crisis.
Facing the Truth
James Baldwin's words ring prophetic: "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."
We turn our backs on reality at a cost that will ultimately destroy the planet we're meant to pass to our children and grandchildren. The choice is ours: continue living in a post-truth fantasy or confront the difficult realities that demand immediate action.