Why Do We Allow The Government To Disseminate False Information Dealing With Both Economic And Foreign Policy?

{Editor’s Note: This is the 29th installment of a series of articles attempting to address the 32 questions posed by Ron Paul in his recent farewell speech given in front of Congress. Check out the previous installment, "Why Does The Use of Religion To Promote  A Social Gospel And Preemptive Wars Go Unchallenged?"}Lew Rockwell often gives the advice that "whatever the government says,believe the opposite".  Many will often take this as merely a sarcastic quip against the State. But the more time passes the more it becomes evident that Lew's advice should be taken literally.  From what we put in our bodies to how to keep us safe, government advice is often best ignored. This is because all information disseminated by the State is done so for one reason and one reason only - to preserve itself.Whenever government releases information about something, you can be darn tootin' that there is some sort of agenda behind it. Thusly, this information should be held with high suspicion. When we suddenly hear reports of "chemical weapons in Syria" at the same time the U.S. government is arming the Syrian rebels, we should be suspicious. Did we not see the same exact thing in the build up to the Iraq war?  When a sudden drop in unemployment is announced during the heat of an election cycle, we should be suspicious.  The government and the Federal Reserve are constantly cooking the books by changing the definitions of "inflation" and "employment" to suit their needs.Of course, to suggest that those in government ever act in their own interest and have anything other than the welfare of the citizenry in mind quickly gets one labelled a "conspiracy theorist"  and shipped off to Tin Foil Hatville in the minds of others. For the most part, despite significant evidence to the contrary, people generally believe what the government tells them.Why do we allow the government and the Federal Reserve to disseminate false information dealing with both economic and foreign policy?The reason the government and it's sister entity the Federal Reserve can get away with dishing out so much false information is because most people are still largely trusting of the government and believe those in the mainstream media will do an effective job as watchdog.  The public is trusting because they have not come to see the government in the Rothbardian view - as a "gang of thieves write large".  Instead, we have been raised to believe that the government is nothing more than an extension of ourselves - and why on Earth would we lie to ourselves?!The State is aided in it's propaganda task by the various mouthpieces in the media that are put in place to advance it's agenda.  These mouthpieces are what Murray Rothbard referred to as "the intellectuals".  From Anatomy of the State:

the majority must be persuaded by ideology that their government is good, wise and, at least, inevitable, and certainly better than other conceivable alternatives. Promoting this ideology among the people is the vital social task of the "intellectuals." For the masses of men do not create their own ideas, or indeed think through these ideas independently; they follow passively the ideas adopted and disseminated by the body of intellectuals. The intellectuals are, therefore, the "opinion-molders" in society. And since it is precisely a molding of opinion that the State most desperately needs, the basis for age-old alliance between the State and the intellectuals becomes clear.

It is evident that the State needs the intellectuals; it is not so evident why intellectuals need the State. Put simply, we may state that the intellectual's livelihood in the free market is never too secure; for the intellectual must depend on the values and choices of the masses of his fellow men, and it is precisely characteristic of the masses that they are generally uninterested in intellectual matters. The State, on the other hand, is willing to offer the intellectuals a secure and permanent berth in the State apparatus; and thus a secure income and the panoply of prestige. For the intellectuals will be handsomely rewarded for the important function they perform for the State rulers, of which group they now become a part.

Just as the general public largely accepts that the State is at the very least a necessary evil and at the very best a generous protector and provider, they too believe that the State's intellectuals are simply the most intelligent and well trained minds of society.  When a Nobel Prize winning economist like Paul Krugman suggests that a fake alien invasion would save the economy, his credibility as an intellectual is in no way tarnished. After all, he's a Nobel Prize Winner. And we all know how credible the Nobel Prize is...right?Challenging the credibility of the State and it's intellectual backers on a mass scale is no easy task.  However, there is hope. The internet has made the search for truth and knowledge much easier for those who actually seek it.  The credibility ratings of mainstream news organizations are plummeting.  More and more people are turning to alternative media sources for their news and ideas.And this is just the beginning.We are still in the wee early dawn hours of the Internet Age.  Every time someone else turns off the cable TV and fires up the   lapotp they are, often unknowingly, sending themselves down a path towards truth. And the path to truth leads directly to liberty.  The media will continue to tap on everyone's shoulder and say "fear".  But fear comes from ignorance, and it's up to libertarians to continue to say "fear not". Education is the key, and as we educate ourselves we will naturally educate others in our daily lives.  As people begin to ignore the old intellectuals, it is the libertarians, the freedom-fighters, the truth-seekers that must become the new intellectuals.As long as there is government, there will be false information spewing from it.  But more than ever before the people have the power to stand on equal footing and present an alternative.  Read, write, make videos, talk to coworkers; become the new media in whichever way your heart pulls you.This is how truth and liberty will win.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!