> i wonder... just something i am wondering... if this is more
> prevalent in capitalistic societies? or is this a universal? i
> realize that lots of different govt do this -- communist,
> dictators, etc etc... but does it reach so far down?
> m.



Interesting question. The first thing I thought of was crested lizards. I saw an episode of the Crocodile Hunter where he explained that, when threatened, the lizard puts up the crest and opens his mouth as if to say, <aussie accent>"Look how big and scary I am. I am no good to eat. Stay away from me. I'm bad news.</aussie accent> This is, essentially, a lie. The animal is promoting his agenda - you don't want to take me on, I am not interesting as food - when, actually, they are probably quite a nice bite. Tastes like chicken?

Then I got to thinking about other examples of animal propaganda. A male peacock's tail. Chameleons. Stick bugs. Human pheromone cologne.

I am not sure where or how this developed into political propagandizing, but I am sure there must be some connection. Survival instinct. Intellectual survival.

I am reminded of a book I read where the world was evolved as if lizards remained at the top of the food chain. The lizards thought of humans the way we might think of lemurs. They take a human captive and he cleverly learns some of their language. So instead of killing him they keep him as a pet.

Now, the thing about these lizards is, their communication is a complete combination of spoken and physical - their bodies give away the real meaning of what they are saying - with a flush. So the best they can hope for if trying to appear nonplussed is total stillness and control to prevent detection of disapproval. Outright lying is not possible for the lizards. Then one day, the Dick Cheney lizard figures out that the human is capable of saying untrue things without any indication that he is lying.

Dick has the human pull a classic "Hey, look over there." maneuver during a hunting trip and Dick shoots George with an arrow while all the other lizards are looking over there. Then the human says he saw a human hunter shoot George. The coup is achieved. Except, of course, that the lizards are matriarchal so it is more like Denise and Georgia.

Ok. First, let me say that on a very glum day this particular post put a smile on my face. Thanks for even approaching the subject.
Fact is, the bipedal human is most notorious for being such liars.The difference between Cheney-like stupidity and survival-of-the-fittest in the animal kingdom is, I believe, motive.

Humans lie for more than just survival. We are the most despicable critters on the planet, don'tchaknow,
and ergo, greed, lust, and just plain boredom alone is all it takes to motivate people to lie.

"The world's a stage...
a good analogy.