And here’s a variation on the theme that seems to have a reliable source. The quote below can be found on page 181 of the book:
The rules are simple: they lie to us, we know they’re lying, they know we know they’re lying, but they keep lying to us, and we keep pretending to believe them. ― Elena Gorokhova, author, A Mountain of Crumbs
Both of the above authors (Solzhenitsyn and Elena Gorokhova) may have developed their sayings based on an old Soviet joke which reads like the following:
The authorities pretend they are paying wages, workers pretend they are working.
Alternatively, So long as the bosses pretend to pay us, we will pretend to work. (via Wikipedia).
Corrupt Societies Encourage Lying
They see the media lie and the Corporate Media lie leaning left (shall we say -leaning left lies?), The President
too- regarding everything from his association with his dope-smoking, hooker-chasing, money-laundering son to his denial of an open border to widespread accusations of racism and white supremecy to inflation for which the U.S. Media covers up. It wasn't always this way- only in recent years since Obama-Biden has it gotten really bad. Is there a topic Biden doesn't lie blatantly about and his spokesperson always cover for him?
not all societies lie and cheat
Corrupt societies encourage lying .
Individuals in countries with dishonest leaders and weak institutions are more likely to fudge the truth
When do we decide it's OK to tell a lie? Perhaps when we see people in positions of power doing the same. A new study finds that individuals are more likely to lie if they live in a country with high levels of institutional corruption and fraud—suggesting that poorly run institutions hurt society in more ways than previously suspected.
Past research has shown that people are more likely to break the rules if those around them are also doing so. For instance, people surrounded by graffiti and litter are more likely to drop trash themselves. "But what we really don't know is to what extent societal norms like political fraud, corruption, and tax evasion trickle down—and to what extent such societal norms corrupt individuals," says Shaul Shalvi, a behavioral scientist at the University of Amsterdam who was not involved in the work.
To find out, researchers pulled data on government corruption, tax evasion, and election fraud from the World Bank and Freedom House, a nongovernmental organization that researches democracy and political freedom, for 159 countries. They combined these rates into an index that measured institutionalized rule-breaking.
-SCIENCE 3-9-16 laurel Hamers
We watched as lying and cheating became pervasive even going back to President Clinton , who lied about having extramarital sex in the White house. And then it got even worse with wife Hillary- 'what difference does it make?'- a few years later with Benghazi and then destroying her home server and 30,000 emails which FBI director Comey would overlook.
Hillary and Democrats got very upset when they accused Trump of stealing the 2016 election. But they seemed to Do a pretty good job themselves in 2020
https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1541828714761277440
https://youtu.be/OjnX4IUt_eo
As lying and cheating were becomi g pervasive throughout society, i remember watching a obviously bloated, cartoonish Barry Bonds break homerun records willy-nilly and later perjur himself for denying his use of steroids for more than a decade (1997-2007)
years while knowing fans- especially in Bonds' San Francisco hometown- ignored the cheating and soon steroid use was rabid throughout baseball , which did little to discourage it other than Giving announced steroid tests once or twice a year.
Then there was champion cyclist Lance Armstong denying his steroid use . (Armstrong was finally resolved of his position yet Bonds wasn't ans even had his perjury charge removed by liberal courts. Since then Cheating and lying has become widespread as people see their 'Heroes' lie and che a t. Today it's gotten so bad thst many stores in Major cities like SF are having to close due tobr a Rampant and blatant theft that goes unpunished. Frankly, this is happening in largely blue (Dem) cities where police defunding had been rampant.
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