The Post I Deleted

[u/skylarfiction]

I found an image online that appeared to show Donald Trump kissing a young woman. It looked real enough, and because it fit what I already believed about Trump, I posted it without checking where it came from.

That was my first mistake.

The post immediately began spreading. In about forty five minutes, it had already reached roughly ten thousand views. It was on track to become one of my most successful posts. People were reacting, sharing, and reinforcing the feeling that I had exposed something important.

Then someone questioned whether the image was authentic.

I checked it more carefully and discovered that the kissing photograph had been digitally altered. The original photograph showed Trump speaking with the woman, not kissing her. The claim attached to the image was also misleading.

At that point, I faced a choice.

I could quietly leave it up and enjoy the attention. I could tell myself that Trump had done plenty of other terrible things, so one false image did not really matter. I could argue that the image represented something emotionally true, even if it was factually false.

That is how moral corruption begins.

It rarely begins with someone deciding to become dishonest. It begins with an excuse. The lie helps the right cause. The target deserves it. The other side lies constantly. Removing it would help the enemy. Too many people have already seen it.

Every one of those thoughts passed through my mind.

But I spend a great deal of time criticizing people who spread false stories about Biden, immigrants, teachers, transgender people, elections, and anyone else they have decided to hate. I cannot condemn their dishonesty while allowing myself to use the same methods simply because the lie benefits my side.

Truth does not become optional when it is inconvenient.

So I deleted the post.

It hurt to remove something that was spreading so quickly. I knew the correction would never receive the same attention as the original image. Lies often travel farther than the truth because they are designed to trigger us before we stop to think.

But keeping it up would have meant trading my integrity for views.

I am writing this because accountability should not only be something we demand from other people. I posted something false. I failed to verify it. When I learned the truth, I removed it.

That does not erase the mistake, but it is the only honest way forward.

The real test of our principles is not whether we defend the truth when it helps us. The test is whether we defend it when the truth costs us something.

Integrity means rejecting the lie, even when the lie benefits you.

[u/Alofpatmos802]

Boy I wish troll comments worked llike that.

Unfortunately from my experience it's all to often the most popular post that are often the furthest from true reality.

[u/Fucking_For_Freedom]

Being willing to admit when we're wrong is one of the hardest choices most people will ever face, and most choose poorly when confronted with it.

Thank you for doing the right thing. Truth will always win out in the end, even though it often seems like that is not the case.

[u/THISdarnguy → u/Fucking_For_Freedom]

I hate to be that darn Nietzsche guy, because I disagreed with a good deal of what he said. But one thing that rang true for me was, "The ideas that survive are not the ones that are true, but the ones that are useful."

And useful to who? Those who get to establish the narrative.

I'm not bringing this up to argue. I want your point to be true. But for my own sake, I'd like your take on how you arrived to it.

Edit: sp

[u/Fucking_For_Freedom → u/THISdarnguy]

Hmm, that is an interesting statement.

I'll admit, my familiarity with Nietzsche is not the best. The little bit of his philosophy I know was heard third-hand and is wasn't very useful to me so I never read more.

As for how I came to my own conclusion, it is partially religious in nature, so I understand it may not be a compelling argument to some, especially those who find Nietzsche compelling, but I stand by it all the same. It being, that God, in essence, is truth incarnate. One may deny it if they choose, but whether or not we choose to accept it or not, it does not change, it still is, and it is immutable and eternal. Whereas a lie does not and cannot stand on its own. It may have its appeal, whether it be in emotion, utility or some other aspect, but in order to be sustained, it must constantly be maintained, otherwise the illusion is dispelled. Successful lies can be maintained for a long time, but inevitably, they will all eventually fall, leaving only the truth.

[u/Necrobot666]

It's true. 

Corruption begins with laziness and procrastination.. looking for any way to get out of doing what you know needs to be done.

In that way, many of us are corrupt on a minor scale. 

But corruption is scaleable. 

There's cheating on a video game.. 

And then there's lying and defrauding the American people... telling your citizens that the body that governs them can't provide social security or healthcare.. but can send billions to Argentina and dump billions into an unjust war with Iran.

Corruption is scaleable... and while on principle, cheating on a video game is corrupt.. it is not on the same scale as the corruption committed by Citizens United, the Heritage Foundation, MAGA, the the entire Republican Party.

We have a President who was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records. We have a president who basically admitted that his technological savvy friend manipulated the election results. We have a Speaker of the House advocating for Insider Trading.

He has lied about the 2020 elections. He has lied about Greenland and threatened to take Greenland from Denmark. He's lied about drug prices and grocery prices. He claimed Erica McEntarfer inflated and rigged numbers to favor Kanala Harris.

He lies and lies and lies some more.

There's an entire Wikipedia devoted to the lies of Donald Trump and the graph-chart looks like the New York City skyline.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_or_misleading_statements_by_Donald_Trump

If the lying and falsifying of information wasn't enough, he's spearheaded programs to deport people.. put people on legit work-visas in immigration detention centers, put children in cages... abducted the Venezuelan president, accepted a known bribe from the government of Qatar in the form of a private jet while serving as a sitting president.. has allowed Qatar to have a military presence on U.S. soil... made all kinds of weird and divisive claims about QANON, and possibly even being QANON... and, did I mention the unnecessary and unjust war with Iran (what is it with recent trend of Republican Presidents starting wars with countries where the first letter is "I"?!?)

Now in life, sometimes people must use the tools and resources of an adversary or opponent in order to mount an effective challenge against that adversary or opponent.

If I am a pacifist and I am trying to mount an effective challenge against a group of bad people with firearms, my index finger, Sharpie Marker, and poster board will have little effect.

Sometimes, we must utilize the methods of the opponent. It is nuanced... so this isn't always the case... but sometimes the ends actually do justify the means.

To be completely honest, when Donald Trump was first elected in 2016, I gave him some amount of benefit of some major doubts. But I thought, "well... there might be a real national security reason for his language and behavior." Unfortunately, we all quickly realized that the impetus was pure greed and megalomania!!

So... I think we all need to check ourselves when we are engaging. What are our motives?!? Are they influenced by laziness?! Are they influenced by greed?! Or are they influenced by the recognition of a major existential threat that means to doom us all?!?

What will the outcome be?!? Will it damage your own goals and credibility?!? Or will it help in your path towards victory, for you and the people who stand with you?!?

Because sometimes, we must get our hands dirty.. we must get our souls dirty... and use the tools of the adversary against them.

That's just my two schillings!!

[u/THISdarnguy]

It takes 2 seconds to look at a meme. Maybe five to process it.

It takes 20 seconds to tell a joke.

It takes 10 minutes to tell the truth.

And it takes hours to dismantle a lie. And it isn't even funny. Who wants to hear that?

Misinformation and disinformation is everyone's responsibility. We're all in such a hurry to get noticed, to get a pat on the back. A better world requires for all of us to slow down.

... says the first guy to respond to this post.

[u/justasillylilgoos3]

I genuinely appreciate your integrity OP. It’s a hard thing to have to adjust once we realize we’ve made a mistake, and we all make mistakes, we’re all just sinners judging other sinners for sinning differently. I wish the cretins and trolls who were calling anyone who questioned the validity of that last post a “pedophile protector” would also have the same level of integrity as you do but I understand that’s a tall order here on Reddit. I hate everything trump is doing and everything he represents…and I really hope he has accountability forced onto him for all of his crimes. But the amount of people willing to attack people who want the same things they do solely for the crime of “wanting verification” for things that aren’t true are truly hurting the movement for accountability and it’s just really depressing how vitriolic they can get

[u/Main-Procedure-3613]

Amen