Fake news and its effect on children

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The all-party parliamentary group on literacy heard evidence that fake news could make children more anxious, damage their self-esteem and skew their world view. In research for the report, the National Literacy Trust showed more than 2,000 UK eight to 16-year-olds six news stories, two of which were fake, and asked them to identify which were real and which were not. Only 2% got all six right. (BBC News, 13 June 2018)

This reinforces my contention that there should be no anonymity on the web. Everyone should be forced to be open and to have the courage to put their names to their views, like real men. Cowardice should not be rewarded! If someone is found to have spread unfounded rumours or fabricated “news” they should appear in a magistrates court and be heavily fined, if the magistrate deems the offense to be egregious. These purveyors of untruth are undoing our society and should be held to account. Ignoring it is not sn option.

The Epicurean Paradox

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The “Epicurean paradox” or “Riddle of Epicurus” is a version of the problem of evil.
Lactantius attributes this trilemma to Epicurus in De Ira Dei:

“God,” he says, “either wishes to take away evils, and is unable; or He is able, and is unwilling; or He is neither willing nor able, or He is both willing and able.”

Through the centuries there is no evidence of the intervention of God in human affairs. One might reasonably have expected Him to have intervened during the massive slaughters of two world wars, but no. Again, one might expect evidence of intervention at the present moment, with the planet in peril, with so-called “strong men” taking control over countries throughout the world, with inequality, mass migration, hunger, the breakdown of liberal democracy and the end of American hegemony, which did at least guarantee a measure of order. But no. We have to presume that God is neither willing nor able to help us live together in respect and harmony. Millions have been calling upon Him for centuries, to no avail.

We are left with the hope that more and more people will espouse the decent, humanistic ideas of Epicurus that stand for moderation, consideration for others, toleration, the search for peace of mind, friendship and caring for those less fortunate than ourselves. Epicureanism and similar humanistic philosophies are what we have left to us. Common sense, really, but then the “leadership” of the human race seems to has remarkably little of that. It prefers self-interest, dubious dealings, lies, bullying and filling its own pockets at our expense. Plus ca change.

The shape of things to come

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India is suffering from the worst water crisis in its history, with 600 million people (of a population of 1.3 billion) facing severe shortages, and 21 cities, including New Delhi, likely to run out of groundwater by 2020, according to a government think tank.

The study found that about 200,000 people already die in India every year owing to a lack of access to clean water, and warned that the crisis will get worse in the coming years as the climate gets hotter and drier. By 2030, it estimates that 40% of the population will have no access to clean drinking water. The report also warns that the states that are worst at managing their water resources – including Uttar Pradesh and Haryana – are home to half the country’s population and the bulk of its agricultural production. (The Week, June 23, 2018)

It isn’t hard to guess the outcome: increased violence, breakdown of whole communities and mass migration to places more livable. We know this – it doesn’t take an old testament prophet. But, like deer in the headlights, we just hope it goes away or we conveniently deny the causes.

Fraud in the American healthcare system

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The FBI estimates that fraud, private and public, accounts for 10% of US healthcare expenditure. $350 billion out of the total of $3.54 trillion is pocketed by crooks. Why is this an Epicurean concern? Because that £350 million has to be made up for somehow, and is taken from honest citizens by insurance companies in the form of premiums and co-pay.

Some of the American companies who have been found out and have had to pay big fines – UnitedHealth, McKesson, Cegene and the Corporation of America are now involved in the privatisation of the British Health service, driven by a a government which has learned nothing since the days of Mrs.Thatcher, that is, that privatisation does little or nothing to bring down costs or improve efficiency. What it does do is to improve the profits of the companies, and the salaries of the CEOs. Fraud in the NHS, previously very small, is growing because it is easier to cheat than to cure patients. Aside from this, capitalism and healthcare do not mix because the consumer has difficulty making rational decisions based on quality and cost.

If you are sick and cannot get healthcare then your level both of pleasure and ataraxia must indeed be low. Actually, the American system, which is just another money machine, with its poor life expectancy, is a scandal, not to be repeated elsewhere. The UK system accounts for 8% of GNP; the America 16%. If the British doubled their expenditure of health the results would put America to shame. But this doesn’t stop some Americans constantly knocking the British system, using misleading information designed to protect American healthcare from the specter of the more rational single payer system.

Meanwhile, Americans spend $10,000 per annum per person on health, compared with $4000 person in the UK. And that is without taking into account the 27 million people who are uninsured.

No more net anonymity!

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British Labour MP Jess Phillips says she has been bombarded with more than 600 rape threats in a single night. Facebook, Twitter and other social networks should be made to record people’s real identities, said Phillips. The security minister, Ben Wallace, has called for digital IDs to end online anonymity; while Theresa May has used the G7 summit to call for tech companies to tackle attacks against women.

What good reason is there for people be anonymous on the internet? None that I can think of. If you have something to say you should have the courage to say it openly, and be prepared for someone to argue against your point of view. Anonimity encourages the bullies and yobs and brings out the worst in a section of the population, who, prior to the age of the internet, couldn’t spread bogus news, make ad hominem comments and unsupported accusations, not to mention nasty, cruel comments on fellow school students. The stance of the Libertarians that foul language and nasty accusations are the exercise of “free speech” is total baloney. Total freedom is total license. There have to be rules of truth and decency – and Epicurean moderation.