The Phenomenon of Fake News: It’s all Johnny’s Fault!

Johnny did not realize his small act would have such a huge impact. Actually, it was just a small harmless thing. Eating sugar. But his dad made a big deal about it. (Even wrote a nursery rhyme about it!) Johnny had no option but to twist the facts. Because sugar melts and it disappears. But he had no time. Before he could hide the crime, he was caught in the act.

Ever since, like Johnny, we all have been twisting the facts. And making it appear true.

The phenomenon of fake news is not new. We hide what we don’t want others to see. And we reveal only data that we think is important.

We even convince ourselves that we are not telling lies. We are just setting it the way we want it. So that WE can be happy.

By the way, in case we missed it, that’s the end game.
How can I look good?
Feel good. Showcase what we think is good.
Being good can be compromised as long as we can make it appear good. And ‘good’ has been redefined to mean whatever ‘bad’ stuff we do through the ‘good’ filter.

And of course, we have to be super-duper happy. We don’t care if we abuse, maim, kill or whatever as long as we are happy.

Johnny has been busy ever since that sugar thing.
Making movies. Short clippings. Long documentaries.
Giving speeches. In Neighborhoods. In stadiums.
Writing books. In school textbooks. In blogs.
WhatsApp messages. Inspired forwards. App-engineered images.

Johnny is in all of us. We try to laugh it off at times. But it’s all the same thing. We are spreading fake news.

We are no longer able to figure out what’s the truth. We have desensitized the truth in us.

We have reached the stage where we cook up fake news. Instinctively. Imaginatively. Sacrilegiously.

Is there hope for change?
Is truth possible?
Can we change?

I think so. That’s a conversation for another day.

But I have this strange mental picture. Actually, it’s not anything I have conjured. It’s from the movie Moana. That particular moment when Moana reaches out to Teka. An act of kindness that changes everything. The land itself becomes green.

Is such a moment possible?

Are such acts of kindness miraculously able to change the world?

I dream of such moments.

That Johnny in the neighborhood needs it. The Johnny within us needs it.