Truth is dead.

At present it seems that truth has never been so partial, so sectarian. Truth is what our tribe wants it to be. It is fed to us by algorithm. It has no external frame of reference.

But if you know the truth, it will set you free. What does this mean? It is perhaps not surprising that these words were spoken in the context of Jesus challenging religious dogma; blinkered narrow views that victiised and enslaved others.

As we run up to COP26, one of the greatest obstacles we face in trying to commit to real positive action is the way that truth has been deliberately distorted, by politicians, think tanks and faux-acedemics, all in the paid service of the oil industry, who have spent millions to muddy the waters.

1984 and more

The field was full, said Spicer

The NHS is broken

The Holocaust was fake news

The world is not warming

(And I never touched that woman)

Wealth trickles down

Poverty is the direct consequence of indolence

I did not say what you heard me say

And should you contradict

Future truth will land only in the laps

Of some other network

Ignore those all those pinko academics,

for I have alternative facts

from the University of Google

Conspiracies are the spice of my digital life

This kind of toxicity resists all known antibiotics

It seems that even silicon

Can fester

Reality is inside the human skull said O’Brian

It has no external dimension

With a dismissive flick of my hand

I remake the laws of nature

1984

And more.