We are paying a debt to the truth. That is the simplest answer I have to explain the mess we’re in. I could devote endless pages discussing the causes of the pandemic, the accompanying economic crisis, and racism in the United States.
But the most concise explanation is that we are paying for all of the lies.
If you haven’t seen the miniseries "Chernobyl," it is excellent. Spoiler alert: the nuclear reactor explodes. The results of the explosion are death and cancer. It devastates the environment and economy, leading to the end of the Soviet Union. Throughout the catastrophe, the Soviet government lied about the causes and consequences of the disaster. Those lies killed people.
Near the end of Chernobyl, a Soviet scientist, Valery Legasov, explains the chain of events that led to the explosion. He risks his life to tell the truth. Legasov says, “When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there, but it is still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid.”
Politicians and some media figures lied to us about the pandemic, hoping that it would just go away. The pandemic was a threat to their political survival. They told us that it wouldn’t be that bad and the flu is worse, while taking precautions to insure their own safety.
They told us that it was already going away. They told us that hydroxychloroquine could treat COVID-19. Now, they spread lies and conspiracy theories about what caused the virus. They know this will cause confusion and divide us. It also turns our attention away from their failures. They lie and blame others for anything else that goes wrong.
We even embrace lies. We believe garbage on social media without looking at it with a jaundiced eye. We don’t do any research. We just hit the share button. That only adds fuel to the fire, encouraging liars.
Who paid the bills for those lies? The 113,000 dead from the virus. Let that sink in for a minute. That is more than twice the population of Columbus. Dead. Who else has paid? The millions of Americans who have lost their jobs.
Of course, lying isn’t new. For centuries, American society deceived itself about race. We told ourselves that the Civil War wasn’t about slavery. We lied when we ruled that separate was equal. We lied when we denied evidence of systemic racism. And that’s just the start of the dishonesty about racism.
Right now, the United States is going through its own Chernobyl.
Just like radiation, an invisible contagion, the virus, has killed thousands. Lies from our government cost lives.
In Chernobyl, Legasov concludes with a warning, “The truth doesn’t care about our needs or wants. It doesn’t care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions. It will lie in wait, for all time.”
You can choose what to believe. We can disregard evidence. We can ignore advice from scientists and experts. You can say it is a hoax or a conspiracy. But the truth doesn’t care what we believe. And it will be there to collect.
Aaron Miller is one of The Republic’s community columnists and all opinions expressed are those of the writer. He has a doctorate in history and is an associate professor of history at Ivy Tech Community College — Columbus. Send comments to editorial@therepublic.com.
