Worldbuilding 202: The Big Lie (of society)
Greetings and salutations! Yes, today I succeeded! That is all folks!
Not really, today we are going to talk about what I call “the Big Lie” when it comes to societies. What is that, you say? Well… First, disclaimer!
Disclaimer: I will be taking up a lot of things that might be considered obvious and good, and I’m going to question them. This is done to illustrate that they are Big Lies that people of today in certain parts of the world accept, not to say that they are wrong or the likes, as I accept the Big Lie that exists where I live, and I agree with a lot.
The Big Lie is…
There are in many contexts that the words “the Big Lie” can be used. Fascists have used it in sayings–Göbbel comes to mind–and the media today uses it in certain contexts. But when it comes to society at large, it is something completely different. It is a lie so special and grandiose that you, my dear reader, are unlikely to even be aware of it.
It is the lie society tells itself about how it should and ought to be, and it is perpetuated not by a specific group but by society as a whole. To make a list of what it needs:
It must be a collection of many beliefs
It cannot be orchestrated by a group or individual
It cannot be considered controversial
It must be so omnipresent that deviations from it are considered weird or wrong
It must tell people how society at large should be or ought to be
The last one is what does the most heavy lifting; the rest essentially establishes that it is so ubiquitous that it blinds you to its existence. It is when, as we say in 🇸🇪, “One cannot see the forest for the trees”.
Examples of Big Lies
I call it “The” primarily because every society has one, and every society has the one that is the lie for itself. The fact that it is a lie might be extremely obvious to outsiders, but to those inside, it is not. But what are examples of such lies?
Democracy
Within democracy resides many lies that build up the Big Lie that democracy relies on. A common saying to support democracy is “Consent of the governed”. By who and what? You might think it is obvious, but that is because it is part of the Big Lie! Why should mindless peasants, ignorant proletarians, meaningless slaves, uneducated buffoons, or the likes have any right to partake in ruling? They have no clue, no sense, nothing that makes them worthy of ruling but need to be ruled! For ages, “Consent of the governed” was not a Big Lie people believed in, and other Big Lies were in effect.
On top of that, why is it that someone that just wins a wretched popularity contest, whether person or party, has any rhyme or reason to rule? What makes them fit? This is all lies baked into the parts of the Big Lie that democracy has. It is in many instances good from our point of view, but we have all seen when it fails spectacularly, present and historically.
American tipping culture
This might piss some off, but I know a lot of Americans visit my blog, so of course I have to do this. But this is a huge cultural norm that is in a sense a “Big Lie”. Some of you might argue it fails to be uncontroversial, as people complain about it, but from my experience in reading and talking with a lot of Americans, how many DON’T do it? Very few. Most will do it regardless of what they think, so it’s uncontroversial. (Anne: As an American, I’ll also add that people who don’t tip are generally looked down on in most areas of society, though of course there are those who justify not tipping, and there’s an expectation of tipping as a cultural norm even when individuals go against it). So it still falls under the definition of a Big Lie and is a good example of one that is slightly more obvious to those within the culture, so one can say, it is reaching the tail end of its life as a Big Lie.
Mandate of Heaven
This is commonly associated with China and their former Emperors during the various dynasties, which I will get into, but I want to make clear that under this falls all kind of royalties–kings, queens, emperors, empresses–that derive their right to rule from some form of spiritual or divine part.
In China in its ancient times, it was said that the heavens, with its spirits and deities, bestowed the mandate and right to rule the land because the ruler was seen as virtuous and righteous enough to do it. In European traditions, the royalties were chosen by God to rule. A big difference between the cultures in how they perceived this lie was that in China, a period of bad times for the people was viewed as the Emperor having lost the mandate and was to be replaced, but in Europe, it was forever regardless… or until the guillotines were rolled out.
Consumerism and modern economies
Another big one in modern times is about consumerism and the economies (for more, check out my post on economies!). An economy is about what and how much to produce, where to distribute it, when to do it all, etc. The modern economic world is focused on two kinds, three in a way, free market and capitalism (see my post on capitalism for more), and then also consumerism. Consumerism is about endless consumption: do not make things that last for ages, make things that are good enough so people want to consume more, and keep at it. This is, along with capitalism, where private ownership of means of production is held up as the holy grail, and free market where the god of economy decides everything.
These have done a lot of good in lifting the world out of poverty, but this all has also shoved large fractions of the world into even worse conditions. To think those three are inherently good is a Big Lie. Why is it good to constantly buy new things and have the latest iPhone? (It’s better, fight me 😛) Why should all capital be privately owned, and why is it viewed as so great? Even when capitalists accumulate more and more power and money, is it still good? And should the free market really decide the price of what we consider bare necessities? Why should food possibly be too expensive for the less fortunate?
What does the Big Lie do?
With these few examples, one can wonder, what the fuck do Big Lies do, and why do they keep existing? The answer is as simple as it is complicated. It exists to create a common core of beliefs for a group to unite around. A group of people that have nothing in common have a hard time uniting for anything.
Some of you might say “That is what culture does!” but culture and the Big Lie are different things. If I live in a culture that demands I do, I don’t know, a naked dance every blue moon, I sure can do that just to keep the peace for me, but that doesn’t mean I am mentally part of the rest. The Big Lie is about what people jointly believe together as “correct”. Culture–go read my post on it!–is much more. It contains beliefs as part of it, but culture also contains actions. Yeah, it is a complicated mess, I told you!
So in short, the Big Lie helps cohesion of people by giving them a common core and is wrapped in with culture itself.
Society and the Big Lie
So what does this mean for a society? Several things that can affect a lot of things.
Function
The Big Lie is in many ways fundamental to make a society function. If people cannot agree on how society should be run, how can it function? No, I do not mean like you want X and I want Y, every society has things it needs to work on and people are complaining, I am talking about the more fundamental. What method do we go about addressing the concerns?
The Big Lie also addresses who has power and why they are allowed to have it. This one is especially fun and fascinating when the Big Lie starts crumbling and is replaced by a new one: what happens to the old ones in charge? 💀
Lack of
What does it mean to lack a Big Lie? Nothing; it is in my opinion impossible to not have it as long as society is functional. The lack of one is a transitional phase where a society goes from one Big Lie to another. This is often marked by anarchy, not the way many anarchists imagine it which I will address in a later blogpost–don’t yell at me anarchists!–civil war, revolution, wars, chaos, and more.
History & Values
The Big Lie of a culture can greatly reveal its values, and if it doesn’t do that, it reveals the history instead. To go back to American tipping culture, it tells both in one go! No, not that people think paying people a livable wage is wrong or bad; it shows that some of the corporations, well, a lot, do not care about paying a livable wage. And let’s be honest, like I have discussed in my capitalism post, there is no real incentive for them to pay a livable wage, so in that sense, it shows the rampantness of the capitalistic economy and how uncontrolled it is. On top of it, it shows history. Why? What is it Anne says? I am in fact just making this phrasing up, but in general she says you can look at a random rock in the USA and ask, “How is that a result of racism?” and you will be given an actual answer that shouldn’t exist, and yet it does. Yeah, the tipping culture started out of racism in the South and… Well, here we are.
Your own Big Lie
So, how do you make up your own big lie for your civilization? First of all, be very careful. The thing is that you believe in your own Big Lie that you will have little to no awareness of, so it is very easy for you to fall into the trap of using your own. Just like when you do your own cultures for aliens or whatnot.
So, how do you go about it? It is not as hard as you might imagine. A few good ones that almost all Big Lies contain are:
How is the civilization governed?
What group of people have power?
What justifies the group's power?
What justifies how the society is stratified?
These are fairly generic big questions to ask and Big Lies to create, but they make up the core in many ways. On top of each, you can expand. Like the justification of the strata: what justifies and makes certain behaviours and situations?
Summa Summarum
So what have we gone through today? Heck if I know!... Oh wait, I am the one writing! Having a Big Lie is important to a society to make it function, but the dissolution of the Big Lie by it fragmenting into smaller subsections within the population until you have groups with competing beliefs of it is a good addition if you want a revolution or a civil war to break out. After all, if you cannot agree on something that fundamental, a clash is inevitable as you no longer believe in the same systems and justifications for it.
And importantly, when you make them up, think about what you want the culture's values and history to be because it will show up here as well. Make certain in fact that it shows because if culture and the Big Lie are in opposition, history is likely the culprit, and a shift in the Big Lie is in progress… and Anne’s favourite thing might be on the horizon. Good luck!
(Anne:) 😈 🗡️
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