Manufactured Truths
Manufactured Truths
When people spread these manufactured truths, some people come to see these false ideas as reality and thus panic ensues. In The Crucible, a story written by Arthur Miller, he depicts the craze which occurred in Salem in the years of 1600's. This time of paranoia was caused by a simple minded girl who spoke these preposterous, manufactured truths. Abigail Williams blamed others for acts they did not commit and these blames ruined many of their lives . The Red Scare, just like the Salem witch trials, was a time of persecution. Just like Abigail Williams, Senator Joseph McCarthy targeted many people that he believed were communists. With these accusations, he ruined the lives of many innocent people just like Abigail. The only difference is that Abigail cried witch and McCarthy cried Communist. We are presented with false interpretations and we are encouraged to believe them based solely on what people say.
The claims which Former President George Bush made about Iraq after 9/11 befits Abigail's actions of trying to captivate the community's attention for their own benefit with these false truths. Former President George Bush spoke about the misgiving we should have towards the people of Iraq and how troublesome and dangerous. Bush falsely claimed that "The Iraqi regime has violated all of those obligations. It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons…. Surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding facilities that it had used to produce chemical and biological weapons. Every chemical and biological weapon that Iraq has or makes is a direct violation of the truce that ended the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Yet, Saddam Hussein has chosen to build and keep these weapons despite international sanctions, U.N. demands, and isolation from the civilized world…. Iraq could decide on any given day to provide a biological or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists. Alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints"(Bush 2). Bush created these manufactured truths to use as an excuse to persecute Iraq, but at the same time he did it for himself. Bush wanted to become president, so he created these manufactured truth to get everybody to his feet looking for guidance. In the same way Americans viewed Bush, the people of Salem viewed Abigail, as their Savior. Every time Abigail would pass the townsfolk would say " God bless you child"(Arthur Miller 2). Both Bush and Abigail present this common problem for everybody which nobody else knows of and brings to light so they can be the hero and decimate the evil "Force" which goes against the community. The so-called problem in Salem were witches and in America it was the terrorists which were supposedly coming from Iraq. These falsities which spread were a parasite in the people's view of what is actually true.
Manufactured truths are fed to us by different sources; these mostly come from those in power and render the people ("the weak") under their feet. The Crucible is a story of false truths which also ties in with the supposed Doomsday on December 12, 2012. The false claims that the world was going to come to an end started a couple years before the actual date. With these allegations, many people were filled with anxiety and stress. With this one false idea the lives of many changed. Many people prepared for the date of December 12th. They quit their jobs and spent all their money on things they thought were intrinsic. Their whole lives were