Information War

Fact-checking is meaningless if

People have no respect for facts.

Just watch social media and you

Will see how the public reacts

 

To natural disasters or shootings.

Conspiracy theories quickly abound

And suddenly the Internet is

An informational battleground.

 

Knowing the truth no longer gives us

A feeling of calm or a sense of relief,

Since few people have an incentive

For altering a false belief.

 

Experts say our psychological

Weaknesses are targets for those

Who spread misinformation for

Ideological ends. These pros

 

Know how to use the media well.

Their credibility's merely a ruse.

And suddenly the falsehoods are

Amplified all over the news.

 

Hacks and kooks and fringe group crazies

Have been around forever; it's true.

If there's a chance to spread their lies,

They do not miss a cue.

 

Fringe groups going mainstream. Yikes!

That's a recipe for disaster,

Especially when a gullible public

Eats up the nonsense faster and faster.

 

Orwell's 1984

For many years made us wary.

The year twenty seventeen

Is also looking damned scary.

 

(9-3-17) By Bob B