Blue Lies: Why Trump & Netanyahu Lie  

By Shlomo Maital

Illustration from Psychology Today

   Why do the ex-President of the US, Donald J. Trump, and the current Prime Minister of my country Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu,  constantly lie?   And why do their supporters applaud them, rather than castigate them for it?  And why has telling the truth become an out-of-fashion value? 

     At last, a clear explanation, from Jeremy Adam Smith, writing on ‘blue lies’ in Scientific American, March 24, 2017, featured in a recent New York Times Op-Ed.  It’s obvious, when you think about it. Kids do it all the time.  He writes:

     “Trump is telling “blue lies”—a psychologist’s term for falsehoods, told on behalf of a group, that can actually strengthen bonds among the members of that group. As University of Toronto psychologist Kang Lee explains, blue lies fall in between generous white lies (that harmlessly avoid offending or hurting others) and selfish “black” ones (that harm everyone).”

     “You can tell a blue lie against another group,” he says, which makes it simultaneously selfless and self-serving. “For example, you can lie about your team’s cheating in a game, which is antisocial but helps your team….. People can be prosocial—compassionate, empathetic, generous, honest—in their group and aggressively antisocial toward out-groups. When we divide people into groups, we open the door to competition, dehumanization, violence—and socially sanctioned deceit.”

    I watched CNN air audios of Trump looking at a top secret document written by the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and talk about it to an aide.  He mentions the document in detail.  After CNN aired the audio, he denied he was looking at a top-secret document.  Blue bald lie.  His followers swallow it like cotton candy.  CNN is them.  Trump is us.  So, we believe his lies.  If we don’t, we help them. Liberals. Yuk. Tribal loyalty Trumps truth.

     The world has split into tribes, fragments of nations.  Social media helped.  Loyalty to, and membership in, tribes has become super-crucial.  Lies buttress tribal membership, as much about dis-ing other tribes as affirming our own.  Trump perfected this and continues to practice blue lies.  Netanyahu has followed his example.

     This blue-lies plague is as much a pandemic as COVID.  But there was a vaccine for the virus. How in the world are we to stop the pandemic of blue lies?