Smoke and Fire

 One of the difficult things to decide is how to react to people who simply don't follow the normal rules of behavior.  One of the things that happens in a society is that by being outrageous you make the outrageous seem normal.

This can be both good and bad depending on the issue.  Take an issue that most of us now agree with, Gay Marriage.  It almost seems like it was always something we should agree with, but 50 years ago we generally did not.  The generally accepted view was that marriage was between a man and a woman.  Even our progressive or at least liberal population generally felt that way.  

However, the more we talked about it and had people arguing it was the right thing to do the more the idea shifted from a fringe position to a middle position and now a mainstream position. Very little ele has changed, simply societies view of it.  Could it move the other way?  Unlikely but possible.  We still have a fairly sizable contingency that feels it violates the will of God and attitudes can shift.

This has been used effectively in many countries over the years.  The shift to a more liberal or a more conservative position by society possible by public manipulation.  In the years before World War 1, most German people accepted, and frequented stores or businesses owned by Jewish people.  There was a lot of antisemitism in Europe and Germany, but it didn't result in actual policy.  The NAZIs changed that and eventually the isolation, round up, and extermination of the Jewish population happened with only minor resistance.  They were able to take an idea that most Germans would have considered barbaric and implement it.  

It was a lesson that some have learned too well.  Lie upon lie works.  Look how many Americans believe there was widespread fraud in the last election.  This lie has simply been repeated so often that it seems normal to many.  The lesson is simply that by making it sound mainstream, it can become mainstream.

Reality for most people is what they are told by authorities and media.  Making outrageous accusations is more effective than you might think.  People like to think where there is smoke there's fire.  

Not always.