Two Great Societal Lies

Throughout most of western (European and American) history, the Bible was beyond criticism.  Thus, for example, Galileo was tried and condemned by the Roman Catholic Inquisition in 1633. He was prosecuted for his support of heliocentrism, the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the centre of the Solar System.  Protestants continued the tradition of Biblical / clerical infallibility.  For example, Michael Servetus was burned at the stake in 1553 by John Calvin for challenging the doctrine of the trinity.

By now, in western society, we moved beyond religious dogma.  However, there are certain illogical doctrines that are beyond challenge in elite society.  These were on full display in the Democratic presidential debate last night.

1. We "can't afford" to provide services such as universal health care.  This was pounded relentlessly by candidates Bloomberg, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar.  This is absurd on its face, as all other developed countries do this and spend less on health care than does the U.S.  But it is only one manifestation of the larger misconception that the national government has a limited supply of money.  As creator of the currency (U.S. dollar), our national government faces no monetary limits other than inflation (which has been trending lower for decades).
2. Russia interfered in our 2016 election and is uniquely evil (along with China and any other country that refuses to submit to our empire).  The Democratic candidates tried to outdo each other in denouncing Russia and Putin, along with China and Xi, and Cuba and Castro.  This is again obviously absurd.  It is well documented that most of the so-called Russian interference in the 2016 election was actually manufactured by U.S. and British intelligence.  And to claim that countries as Cuba actually have accomplished anything, in education for example, is beyond the pale.  Thus, establishment standard-bearer Joe Biden was shrieking at Bernie Sanders for actually saying this out loud.
   
   This is of course absurd.  Democracy is obviously an important concept, and the U.S. led empire does have certain basic democratic principles which generally prevail.  But this is not the only humanitarian standard by which we can judge countries.  And the U.S. supports many authoritarian governments who choose to cooperate with the empire to a greater extent than Cuba.  It's thus a great lie to claim that governments who stand up to the empire are irredeemable and cannot, by definition, have done anything good.

As with the imposition of Biblical / clerical infallibility, the current great lies are obviously absurd, yet strictly policed by the elite class.  Despite this societal blind spot, many wonderful scientific and artistic accomplishments take place in our society.  We have come a long way in terms of civil rights.  But the blind spots are dangerous to our survival as a nation and a species, just as the blind spots of yore led to absurd persecutions and devastating wars.
Supporting documentation:

From What could be dumber than a red-baiting revival?

Like did you see that Bernie Sanders, Democratic presidential front-runner, said on TV that Cubans have done alright at health care — which is true! See “How Cubans Live as Long as Americans at a Tenth of the Cost” — and at literacy programs — which is also true! See “An adult literacy program developed in Cuba is now being used in more than 30 countries” — and now everyone’s acting like he said “I think gulags are great, you can’t have universal health care without gulags, as President I will throw you all in gulags”? ...

Even the allegedly liberal New York Times story on it is “Sanders’s Comments on Fidel Castro Provoke Anger in Florida,” as if that were the important thing about it, as if instead of making an anodyne statement about a generally acknowledged truth, Sanders had done some kind of faux pas against Floridians, like telling them their state was America’s Wang. 

And the Washington Post says “Bernie Sanders greets his new front-runner status with one of his greatest hits: Praising Fidel Castro.” That Bernie! You can’t ask him about the weather without hearing about Castro.