The Price of Truth: Why the Culture of Lies Threatens Democracy

By Mika Horelli, Brussels  


Russians have referred to Finns as ”tsuhna”, a term implying their view of Finns as honest but somewhat naive. This nickname dates back to the 19th century when, for instance, Finnish carriage drivers were considered trustworthy because they didn’t charge extra fees. In reality, this reputation was more a result of fear of penalties than genuine honesty, but the reputation stuck.


Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former owner of the Yukos oil company, wrote in his 2015 memoir Prison Diaries about how, in his childhood in Soviet Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), telling the truth often meant going hungry. According to Khodorkovsky, one had to adapt to a society where truth was a relative concept and lying was the norm. The Soviet system was built on lies, and everyone knew it—both the authorities and ordinary citizens. This collective web of lies held society together through fear and coercion.


It is startling to observe how, in recent years, Western societies have begun sliding toward a similar post-truth culture. When President Donald Trump’s advisor Kellyanne Conway used the term "alternative facts" in 2017 to defend false claims made by the Trump administration, she effectively gave lying a new name.


This was not merely a slip of the tongue but part of a broader phenomenon in which truth is subordinated to political agendas. The saddest part is that millions of people accepted this way of thinking. Trump’s supporters turned reality upside down, claiming that established media outlets had formed a conspiracy in favor of liberals and were deceiving "real Americans."


It is telling that Trump’s social media platform is named Truth Social, despite it being a channel for spreading lies that align with Trump and his supporters' worldview. This contradiction—lies spread in the name of truth—is a grotesque caricature of modern politics.


Mark Zuckerberg's announcement in early January that Meta's social media platforms in the U.S. would stop using external fact-checkers in the name of "freedom of speech" says something profound about the times we live in. By the same logic, lynch mobs might soon be called "true justice."


Truth as the Foundation of Democracy  


Humanity is a vast social organism, whose existence relies on societies being organized into complex administrative and political structures, supported by a functioning division of labor. The operation of these systems requires fact-based information exchange. Without reliable information, cooperation between people becomes impossible. Democracy is particularly dependent on this cooperation: it is based on citizens' ability to make informed decisions and contribute to societal development.


If truth is stripped away from the foundation of society, democracy begins to crumble. We see examples of this in authoritarian states like Russia and China. In these countries, society does not rely on the ability to agree on things openly and honestly but on fear and the threat of violence. Dictators present themselves as infallible leaders, but since no one is infallible, their mistakes are covered up with lies—which, in turn, require new lies to sustain them.


Russia’s war against Ukraine provides a clear example of this. Because the Russian constitution prohibits aggressive wars, the Kremlin had to lie to its citizens about the nature of the war. Consequently, the Russian government refers to the war as a "special military operation." If someone dares to use the word "war," they are charged with a crime. This illustrates the logic of authoritarian systems: the truth cannot be allowed, as it threatens the very existence of a system built on lies.


The Post-Truth Era in the West  


Although Western democracies have traditionally relied on transparency and honesty, recent decades have witnessed a troubling trend. Fake news, conspiracy theories, and deliberate political misinformation have become alarmingly widespread. Social media has accelerated this development by providing a platform for the rapid spread of false information.


Donald Trump’s first presidential term (2017–2021) marked a turning point in this regard. Trump’s rhetoric often relied on exaggeration, distortion, and outright lies. According to *The Washington Post*, Trump made over 30,000 misleading or false claims during his presidency. Yet a significant portion of his supporters not only accepted this behavior but actively defended it.


In the post-Trump world, the term "post-truth era" has entered the political lexicon. It refers to a situation where emotions and personal beliefs take precedence over objective facts in decision-making and public discourse. This trend is not limited to the United States: similar phenomena are evident in Europe with the rise of populist movements. This is precisely why populists have demanded that social media platforms stop fact-checking under the guise of "censorship" in Europe as well.


Why Is Truth Important?  


It is easy to think that lying has always been a part of politics—and this is not entirely wrong. As poets have reminded us, white lies or deliberate deceptions have been part of human interaction in politics, love, and war. However, humanity’s essential skill has traditionally been the ability to recognize lies and prepare for them.


The problem arises when truth-telling ceases to be the foundation of societal discourse. If an entire society is built on lies, it begins to disintegrate from within. History offers numerous examples of this: totalitarian systems eventually collapse precisely because their maintenance requires constant lying.


In democratic societies, truth plays a particularly central role. It serves as the basis for trust: citizens must be able to trust that the information they receive is true and that their leaders act in their best interest through honest means. When this trust erodes, the entire system begins to falter.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Trump's "Peace" – History repeats itself in cruel ways

The Rules of the World Have Not Changed – They No Longer Exist

Europe’s fate is once again threatened by secret protocols agreed upon over its head