Man on the moon
Fifty-five years ago today (as I write this), we landed on the moon. Wherever you were at the time, whether or not you were even alive then, whether or not you are even an American, it was an achievement we can all take pride in. Whether you agree with the money and effort spent or the competition that motivated it, that one single act defined us as a species and made us better than we were. For one brief shining moment it made us great. We returned to the moon five more times.
It is a reflection of the current times that there is a significant and growing minority of people who believe the moon landings were faked. Those same people are morphing and congealing with people who think the earth is flat. They are forming one hideous blob of ignorance and science-denying zeal. That sad reality is a direct reflection of the times, a mirror held up to the zeitgeist of humanity. Ignorance, superstition and paranoia are becoming the order of the day, and they are infecting society so quickly that many of us are hardly aware of it.
It is against this backdrop that Donald Trump exploited his lies. It is against this backdrop that so many people believe those lies. Many of us were surprised by the ease with which Trump’s obvious lies were believed, but should we have been? After all, if so many people can believe ideas so obviously preposterous as a flat earth and a fake moon landing, what else can they believe? Plenty, as it turns out.
It is widely believed today that the 2020 election was rigged, that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by hundreds of thousands of scientists across the globe, that the Covid vaccine is killing people by the millions, that there is a Deep State in charge of the government. Millions of people not only believe those preposterous lies, they are prepared to believe many more the second they are presented to them, without question or criticism. Every thinking man and woman should be deeply alarmed by this growing trend.
Are we witnessing the death of Truth itself? Perhaps, but why? It could be, in part, a backlash reaction to the speed with which technology is advancing, and our newfound ability to infect others with the paranoia that advances in technology has created. The momentum from the outward journey to the moon was turned inward, and we are a world today that is linked by a fantastic network of computers. Never before in human history have so many of us known so many other people. Even the shyest and most isolated among us can have five thousand friends. The most disaffected and paranoid among us can also be social influencers, and their ignorance is propagated at the speed of light.
We owe it to ourselves, each other and the future of our species to be careful with this new power we have been given. We need to adopt better standards of evidence and put all new knowledge through the careful rigours of critical thinking. We need to set an example for the rest of the world.
We are in deadly dangerous times. So much so that the magnificent legacy of our species from fifty-five years ago could be eclipsed and ruined in a single election. It’s up to us to see that doesn’t happen. It’s up to us to carry the light of truth to banish the darkness of ignorance. Nobody else can do it for us.
I don’t think I am in danger of hyperbole when I say that November fifth is the most important date in the history of the world. On that day we will decide, possibly once and for all, if the world is to be ruled by justice or paranoia, equality or hatred, mercy or ruthless cruelty.
So vote blue. Bring people with you to the polls. Spread the word everywhere you go.
Promote unity among us. Remember that date is more important than any petty squabble or argument we may have. It’s our most all-important day. Let’s win. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.