"American aspiration, idealism and mythology have mingled together from the start."  Jill Lepore and Barack Obama got it.The reason why "big lies" from both ends of the political spectrum resonate with so many people is that so many people distrust those who claim to know the "real truth, or real intent" of a person, an action, an event.   Everyday people may not all be especially literate or knowledgeable about specific matters.  But they can most often spot frauds and self-serving self-interested ideologues.  On both sides.So the impact of "myths" has a lot to do with the cultural and informational context that the "myth" is spun to address ... according to, and to the benefit of its proponents.   Myths reflect aspired cultural norms.So long as politicians, journalists and historians opine about myths from the perspective of their personal self interest, ignoring inconvenient facts, then the cycle just continues.  When politicians, journalists and historians stop conflating their opinions about "intent" with historical events, we might explore what binds us as a people.  What beliefs do we share with each other?  Does they outweigh that which divides us?Our form of governance, our abundance of human rights, our rule of law enables the most diverse population in human history to prosper when compared to every other form of governance on the planet.We just need to hold people accountable for living up to our aspirations.  Now, that's a myth worth exploring.

"American aspiration, idealism and mythology have mingled together from the start."  Jill Lepore and Barack Obama got it.The reason why "big lies" from both ends of the political spectrum resonate with so many people is that so many people distrust those who claim to know the "real truth, or real intent" of a person, an action, an event.   Everyday people may not all be especially literate or knowledgeable about specific matters.  But they can most often spot frauds and self-serving self-interested ideologues.  On both sides.So the impact of "myths" has a lot to do with the cultural and informational context that the "myth" is spun to address ... according to, and to the benefit of its proponents.   Myths reflect aspired cultural norms.So long as politicians, journalists and historians opine about myths from the perspective of their personal self interest, ignoring inconvenient facts, then the cycle just continues.  When politicians, journalists and historians stop conflating their opinions about "intent" with historical events, we might explore what binds us as a people.  What beliefs do we share with each other?  Does they outweigh that which divides us?Our form of governance, our abundance of human rights, our rule of law enables the most diverse population in human history to prosper when compared to every other form of governance on the planet.We just need to hold people accountable for living up to our aspirations.  Now, that's a myth worth exploring.

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