A Working Suspicion
A Working Suspicion
The eye can be fooled.
The ear is a rental property.
Both have been renovated by men
who charge extra for the view.
A photograph is a witness
who can be bribed with Photoshop.
A video is a confession
edited by the defense.
And a headline is a mousetrap
baited with your own damn opinion.
Learn to ask who profits.
Who published it? Who paid for it?
Who gets richer if you're frightened,
who gets elected if you're furious,
who gets to skip the evidence
while you're busy sharpening the pitchfork?
Check the date. Check the source.
Find the original, not the screenshot
of a screenshot of somebody's cousin
who went to school with a guy
who knows a woman at the Pentagon.
Two outlets repeating one lie
are not two independent witnesses.
They're an echo with a publicist.
And that blue checkmark?
A tiny digital medal
for the crime of looking official.
Mild paranoia is a survival trait.
The rabbit checks the hawk's shadow.
The mark checks the contract.
The citizen checks the government,
especially when the government insists
that checking is unpatriotic.
But suspicion is a tool, not a religion.
Don't become so proud of doubting everything
that you swallow the first lunatic
who tells you nothing is true.
That's how the con works:
first, they poison the well;
then they sell you bottled water.
Facts can be inconvenient.
They don't care who you voted for,
whose feelings they bruise,
or how beautifully your theory
explains the universe.
Propaganda, on the other hand,
knows your favorite song,
your oldest wound,
and exactly which enemy
you've been waiting to hate.
So doubt the claim.
Investigate the source.
Follow the money.
Read past the headline.
Admit when you're wrong.
And never confuse confidence with knowledge.
A fool can shout at stadium volume.
The truth may arrive quietly,
carrying documents.
In the end, your mind is not a bunker.
It's a border crossing.
Inspect what comes in.
Demand its papers.
Keep the gate unlocked for evidence.
The world is full of people
who would rather own your certainty
than earn your trust.
Make them work for both.
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