In the unlikely case of a true fact
This morning, I happened to read an intriguing offer from a politician. Note; this was something I read, rather than heard, because who actually listens to what politicians say, other than journalists? Given that their incentive for listening is that someone might pay for what they write, their motive is already suspect.
Anyhow, this was an offer to present the true facts in a given case. Full stop. Google brought back lots of “strange but true” facts, or “random” facts, but true facts are self-evident, in the same way that other things are self-evident. In fact (weak expression), isn’t that what we mean by fact? Are there any false facts out there? Any “may become a fact, real soon now”? I can’t find any.
Back to the politician. If you think of the role of a politician, what else do they have to do all day at the legislature other than to speak, or applaud politely when another politician speaks, or yell odd imprecations when some other politician from the other team speaks? And as much as any given politician might hope, there are no grey areas. You are either announcing a lie, or a fact. An offer to present the true facts doesn’t mean very much.
In this case, the topic was the true cost of electricity, and if you pay a bill to your utility, the only fact is that it’s a one way street. You pay; they don’t. The bill might be complicated by terms such as transport charge, or network charge, but the only fact is that we all pay, and we all pay too much for something that should be free as the air we breathe. I welcome the offer to present the facts, but please lose the true label.
