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以下是25個美國史上「最成功」的的謊言；它們涵蓋文化、社會、政治、政策、經濟、和科技(醫藥)各方面。一言以蔽之，其目的都是為了「牟利」；當然也清楚的顯示了一般人士普遍具有認知障礙和認知偏差。可參看本城市最近貼文中的《假歷史之「卡斯特的最後一仗」》和《艾爾斯伯格過世》兩文。
25 of The Most Successful Lies in The History of America
Boloere Seibidor, 06/29/23
Throughout American history, certain things which were believed to have been based on truths have turned out to be lies woven with remarkable finesse, reshaping the course of events and leading several generations to take it as fact. From mesmerizing political and covert manipulations to simple myths that became fact, these captivating falsehoods have swayed minds.
Join us as we look at 25 rewritten narratives, with suggestions from an online forum, and explore their origins and the truth behind them.
1. The American Dream Is Attainable for Anyone
A bite of the big apple. America has always been portrayed as a land with endless promise, boundless opportunity, and prosperity. A second look will tell you that America is nothing of the sort, with very few achieving that dream in the long run. The dream is as mythical as unicorns, and you can work hard and still not get that bite.
2. “Please Hold; Your Call Is Important to Us. We're Experiencing Higher Than Normal Call Volumes”
It can be really frustrating to pick up the phone for some emergency service where you need Customer Service Assistance, and you get hit with this message. While it isn't always a lie, most of the time, it's just the inadequacies of the business that causes this. A company that serves forty thousand people has ten call center agent staff? Of course, you'd need to hold.
3. George Washington and The Cherry Tree
Ah, the infamous tale of “I cannot tell a lie.” A moral lesson wrapped in cherry-flavored fiction. Washington confessed to his father that he had chopped down a cherry tree, choosing to be virtuous than to lie.
Turns out, it's the brainchild of biographer Mason Locke Weems, who cherry-picked embellishments to craft an honest image of America's first president. Truth pruned, mythology bloomed.
4. The Pentagon Papers
The war in Vietnam was a bloody, cruel, and unnecessary war. The Pentagon Papers were a collection of classified documents revealing the U.S. government's intentions in Vietnam. It showed that the administration knew the war was unlikely to be won but kept sending troops to escalate the conflict. While this information is out there, many people still have no knowledge of this.
5. The War on Drugs Cleaned up The U.S.
No, it didn't. Instead, it led to mass incarceration and the breakout of violent substance offenders. Initiated by Nixon, the war on drugs took a forceful approach to a problem that is being solved by treatment and rehabilitation today.
6. “Mission Accomplished,” George Bush
Uttered by Bush in 2003, during the Iraq war, the president at the time suggested that the war had been concluded successfully and many combat operations had ceased.
However, it was misleading and entirely premature, with the war dragging on for years, resulting in loss of life and destabilizing the rejoin. At the time, many Americans had taken his word for the truth, but now they know better.
7. Weapons of Mass Destruction
In the same war, right before America had invaded and occupied Iraq, Bush, and his administration had asserted that Iraq had WMDs of their own. Nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons could be used on the U.S. anytime.
However, this was not true, as by the time the U.S. occupied Iraq, there turned out to be zero evidence to hold these claims. The claims of WMDs were another way to get the public to see the need for the war on Iraq.
8. No New Taxes
Bush made many mistakes in his time as president, but one thing that led to his losing re-election was that he had reneged on his word. Bush had said, “Read my lips. No new taxes,” creating a catchphrase of sorts, which was part of his campaign. But as he got into office, he instantly realized that there would be a lot of taxes, so he raised them.
9. Fat Is Bad
The Fat is Bad campaign was a controversial period in the 20th century, where the focus shifted from sugar as a potential health risk to placing the blame entirely on dietary fat.
The sugar industry was vested in promoting the idea that fat, rather than sugar, was a key culprit behind health issues. The '60s and 70′ led to dietary recommendations and policies. Still, thanks to science today, we know that excessive sugar and fat lead to various health issues.
10. Trickle-Down Economics
Also known as supply-side economics, it is an idea that if we give more money and benefits to wealthy businesses and individuals, it will eventually benefit everyone, as they'll create more opportunities for the masses in turn, as they invest, expand and help the economy overall.
This idea was significantly pushed in the U.S., but of course, this can worsen income inequality; investments in infrastructure, social programs, and the economy can also suffer from this idea.
11. Not These Opioids
Big pharma kicked off the opioid crisis by significantly downplaying the addictive nature of their prescription opioids with misleading promotions, overprescribing, and bad regulatory practices, leading to overdoses, addiction, and utterly ruining the lives of individuals and communities in the U.S.
12. Columbus Discovered America
No, he didn't. When he arrived at the continent in 1492, there were already Native Americans on the scene. The indigenous people were there for years before Columbus set foot on the island. The ancient civilizations of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incans all had some claim to the continent. Even some Viking sailors made it there first.
13. Emancipation Proclamation Freed All Slaves
Issued by Lincoln during the American Civil War, the proclamation is often noted as the end of slavery in the U.S. However, it did not actually abolish slavery nationwide; it only applied to areas under Confederate control, where the Union had limited authority. Rather than a comprehensive act of ending slavery, it took the 13th Amendment to abolish it entirely in the U.S.
14. The Indian Boarding School
This government-initiated program came in the last 19th century with the aim of assimilating Native American children into mainstream American culture.
However, it turned out that the children were forcibly taken from their families and sent to boarding schools, where they were forbidden from practicing their native customs, languages, and religions. They were forced to adopt Western values in the hope that they would become civilized.
15. The Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials are a stark reminder of mass hysteria's dangers to a community. In 1692, people accused of witchcraft were tried in court based on solid evidence. However, the solid evidence at the time was based on hearsay, superstition, and unfounded accusation. Spectral evidence, which was basically a person claiming to see the user's spirit, was accepted as valid evidence.
16. Reefer Madness
A propaganda campaign in the early 20th century was launched to portray marijuana, known as reefer at the time, as a highly dangerous and addictive substance. Its effects were highly exaggerated, and unfounded claims were made about the substance.
In reality, marijuana is now recognized for its medicinal and recreational uses in several states. Reefer madness was just propaganda that most folks probably still believe.
17. Vaccines Cause Autism
This discredited falsehood gained significant attention and traction in the late 1990s when a study, which has now been discredited, suggested a link between measles, mumps, and the Rubella vaccine and autism.
Extensive scientific research has proved that this claim is entirely wrong; however, that hasn't stopped anti-vaxxers from holding on to this belief to this day.
18. Wild Wild West
During the American expansion westwards, the Native Americans who lived in America were already portrayed as savages who were uncivilized and would kill without mercy.
These negative stereotypes would allow the public to back the explorers as they forcefully displaced, killed, and took the lands of the Natives. However, the Native Americans were rich in culture, had sophisticated societies and deep religious connections to the land, and were far from savages.
19. “He's Not One of Us”
In an attempt to delegitimize Obama's presidency, conspiracy theories and political motives pushed the false claim that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and was ineligible to hold the Office of the President.
However, there was clear evidence of Obama's birth in Hawaii, and this was enough to quell the conspiracies, but not before they had done damage.
20. Moon Landing Faked
Of all humanity's achievements, the moon landing is considerably one of our greatest. However, some people believe in the conspiracy theory that the Moon landing was faked. Some believe they created the footage to win the space race against the Soviet Union.
This is entirely false, especially considering all the physical evidence left on the moon, the lunar samples brought back, and the scientific community's overwhelming support and documentation of everything.
21. Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment
From 1932 to 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service was tasked with giving African-American men the proper treatment for syphilis in Tuskegee, Alabama. However, it turned out not to be the case.
They were denied the treatment, and instead, they were observed, as the department wanted to witness the natural progression of the disease to learn from it. The participants were poor, illiterate sharecroppers who were told they'd get free healthcare.
22. Gulf of Tonkin
The USS Maddox, a navy destroyer, was attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats in August 1964, resulting in a brief exchange of fire.
Two days later, the Vietnamese attacked again, leading to President Lyndon Johnson escalating the U.S. involvement in the Vietnamese war. However, on closer inspection, it was realized that the Vietnamese had not attacked again, as the U.S. just needed justification to send in the military.
23. The Red Scare
During the Cold War, there was a fear of communist spies in the U.S. working to undermine American democracy and national security. However, the exaggerated fear of communist infiltration and the subsequent targeting of people who were suspected communists, Russians, or sympathizers led to mass hysteria.
Joseph McCarthy led the anti-communist movement, and while there were some instances of espionage, the extent of the threat was exaggerated for political gain.
24. Clean Coal
The coal industry used this misleading marketing term to suggest that coal can be burned with minimal impact on the environment and planet. The coal industry claimed that with techniques such as carbon capture and storage, they could reduce greenhouse gases.
However, implementing these in coal plants is expensive and complicated. There were risks with the coal storage techniques, leading to it never being implemented and only being used as a phrase to appear cleaner and better for the environment.
25. 40 Acres and a Mule
Following the US Civil War, a promise was made to the newly emancipated African-Americans that they would gain reparations and empowerment in the form of 40 acres of land and a mule. However, the promise turned out to be a sham, as very few actually received the promised land — those who did get it had it taken back from them later on.
Source: Reddit.
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