I don’t expect anyone to blindly believe anything. What I hope (but don’t expect, because I know how biased many people are) is that they weigh evidence, take account of the relative openness of societies, of the amount of cross-checkable evidence available, etc,, & make reasoned decisions. That means comparing what the two sides in any disagreement say, & weighting them according to what you know about how they handle information, & the pressures on them.
Compare, for example, anything said by the North Korean government with anything said by the Swedish government. Which is easier to check? In which country is it more likely that a citizen who knows the government is lying will speak up? How easy is it for such a citizen to find an outlet for what he says?
The answers are all obvious, & tell us which government is, in general, more credible. The Swedes have to be more truthful, because the nature of their society, & the way in which the government is organised, make it harder for them to get away with lies.
The differences between other pairs of countries may not be so glaring, but they exist. Unfortunately, those who have been brought up in more closed societies sometimes find it hard to understand what secrets can, & can not, be kept in more open societies, just as they misunderstand other things.
I recall, for example, a Bulgarian who thought I was incredibly naive to believe that my local member of Parliament would be walking around town without a bodyguard. I, of course, found this immensely frustrating, because I knew – absolutely, totally, certainly KNEW that she had never had a bodyguard & would laugh at the idea that she might need one. But how could I convince my Bulgarian friend of this? All my stories of (for example) drinking in my local pub with the MP, or meeting her socially & professionally in other circumstances where I knew everyone present, just convinced her of my naivety. She assured me that bodyguards were there, or nearby, & I just didn’t recognise them.
She couldn’t understand the difference between our societies – just as you can’t. This leads you to give the wrong weights to what is put forward by different governments. Add to that your open dislike of some countries, & the bias this gives to your assessments, & you’re doomed to get it wrong.
Actually this is hardly surprising, people more or less despise… actually no, they fear what they don’t know or/and don’t understand. Of course this applies for everyone, you included. It’s kind of funny to accuse others over things that you also do.
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