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Notes -
The Jewish (and thus Christian) creation myth tells us man was born into the Garden of Eden - paradise, a bountiful land of harmony, where lions and rabbits and man live in peace - until lies and betrayal by men destroyed it. The Bible is said to be an inerrant source of divine truth, passed down through generations from Jesus to us - yet one that many alive today seek to pervert for their own ends. Our ancestors were at one with nature, had tight-knit religious communities that supported their members, and had respect and virtue that we lack today. And public discourse used to be sane, perceptive, and subtle - but polarization, the media, and the internet ruined it. And what could've caused this universal decline - nothing but The Adversary himself! Or...
Yet the past is in every way as corrupted as the present. Our actual ancestors, from amoebas to subsistence farmers, lived hard and confused lives filled with disease, war, and (among humans) delusions, superstitions, and rumors that make today's look sane. Christian doctrine (like doctrine everywhere) was a political compromise influenced by whoever had power at the time. Violence and struggles over status and resources existed in the smallest of small farming towns and hunter-gatherer camps. And popular politics and 'the media' has always been suffused with lies.
If everyone is an angel but (outgroup) are demons, your rant might be justified. But is Trump an angel? Fox News? Republican politics, at the state or national level? Are they even better? Was Hilary better (benghazi)? Dubya (afghanistan/iraq)? Bill Clinton? ... Where will we find less corruption if we roll the clock back? If someone dumps a barrel of crude oil and lies into your drinking water, sure, scream about it. If the water has been dirty since time immemorial, and that 'someone' poisoning your water was just the river, that's quite different. Drinking nothing, or drinking mud out of a ditch, isn't going to help you.
Politics has always been filled with lies. It's the business. When you tie political power to 'convincing a bunch of dumb people to vote for you' ... what else can you do? Beg the masses to do expected value calculations or read an economics textbook? And if you conscientiously object, simply refuse to participate - that doesn't bring paradise, nor does it bring votes - you simply cede power to the slightly-less-scrupulous.
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