Lies

It is understood by many that good ideas can be undermined by awarding misbehavior. One example in the news today is free trade. All economist agree that free trade means that the country that can produce a product more efficiently while maintaining quality should make that product. But this all goes by the wayside when country like China makes products using unsafe working conditions while destroying the environment, manipulating currency and using low paid and sometimes slave labor. This happens when a financial incentive takes precedent over good manufacturing practice. Another example is free speech. Our first amendment allows speech even if and most importantly when it is distasteful or even hateful. This becomes distorted when places like social media discover that the more egregious lies get the most clicks and thus lying is rewarded by financial incentives. Mark Twain understood this when he said, a lie can travel half way around the world while the truth in putting on its shoes. In times past if a lie was printed in the local paper it did not instantly appears in 10,000 papers across the country. Often times the lie is repeated because it satisfies the need of the reader.