There are established, undisputed truths we all believe in. One plus one equals two. Humans are mortal beings. Change is constant and inevitable.
However, there are also “facts” that many have long subscribed to that are actually a result of propaganda. Here are some of them, as shared in a Reddit thread from a while back. And chances are, reading through this may shock your belief system, for better or worse.
If you feel like joining the conversation, you can do so in the comment boxes below.
#1
That Christopher Columbus discovered America.
Image source: Kelzone, Kevin Olson / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#2
That Christmas marks the birth of Jesus. The real reason for the season has more to do with the winter solstice and less to do with an immaculately conceived birthday boy.
Image source: zipcitytrucker, Birmingham Museums Trust / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#3
I think one of the scariest ones is the fear of vaccines, and the idea that vaccines cause Autism.
Image source: anon, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#4
That the president (USA) has some sort of special powers to control the economy.
[Edit for some clarity] I mean something like a big lever in the Oval Office, that Obama uses to shift the economy up and down.
Image source: DemonOWA, Ramaz Bluashvili / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#5
Jesus was white and had long hair.
Image source: imkookoo, Hans Town Kun / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#6
That eating carrots can help you see in the dark better.
In WW2 the British were using radar to find enemy airplanes, but to keep radar a secret they told the whole of Britain they were feeding their men carrots. Germany then started feeding their army carrots as well. No, they do not help you see in the dark. The Carotene in them is good for your eyesight though.
Image source: MoltenSteel, Nick Fewings / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#7
I’m Korean and until recently my parents had me believing that leaving the fan on within a closed room overnight would end me via suffocation or something. This was just propaganda developed by the South Korean government to stop people from wasting electricity(if I remember correctly.)
Moral of the story: don’t believe your parents blindly.
Image source: danielk10, Dương Nhân / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#8
The US single handedly saved the rest of the world during WW2.
Image source: Librish, Guy Seela / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#9
Most modern Japanese people know absolutely nothing about the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in the pacific during WWII.
I was travelling in Thailand and stopped by to see Hellfire Pass and the famous bridge over the river Kwai. A japanese guy was on the tour with us (mostly because there wasn’t a lot else to do in Kanchanaburi) and was absolutely SHOCKED at the stories of POW treatment. Back in Japan, people still commemorate the officers who were able to accomplish building a railroad so quickly for the Japanese war effort. The darker side of this event is simply not mentioned in any history text or school.
Image source: pocketfrog77, Satoshi Hirayam / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#10
That this generation is the stupidest generation that has ever existed.
Image source: Derp21, Pixabay / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#11
That god has always been a part of the US government. It was only introduced in the 50s to combat the threat of communism. It always makes me twitch when someone on my Facebook posts something about keeping god in the pledge (which was also started in the 50s) and that people trying to take god out is the reason why bad things are happening.
Image source: wowgamer245, Luis Quintero / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#12
That every Jew carries around a little sack of “jew” gold around their necks.
Image source: mudmagic, cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#13
That the Mayans said the world was going to end.
They never claimed that at all.
Image source: anon, Gonza AJ / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#14
That adopting any kind of socialism will directly lead the US into becoming Soviet Russia.
Image source: Easy-A, Brett Sayles / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#15
Reagan was a leading cause of the end of the cold war. Reagan was the model fiscal conservative. Reagan was widely popular. Reagan wasn’t engulfed in an enormous scandal where iirc close to 200 felony convictions were made including oliver north which he probably later pardoned.
Image source: cp5184, Michael Evans
#16
Some Americans seem to think that socialized health care is bad, as a Brit i find this very silly.
Edit: I love the replies saying “yeah but we don’t have to wait 6 months to see a doctor” – Thats propaganda for you.
Also, i wasn’t attacking America. There’s no need to start getting defensive and picking things out that might be wrong with the UK. No country is perfect, we all have our problems and our bad politicians.
Image source: Honey-Badger, RDNE Stock project / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#17
That Napoleon was a midgete.
Napoleon was of average height for the time.
Image source: Onfortuneswheel, Jacques-Louis David
#18
That video games turn people into psychopaths.
Image source: anon, Yan Krukau / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#19
The whole midnight ride of Paul Revere. Revere shouted “the Regulars are coming out” while riding with two others, one a doctor he met on the road who was returning from a ‘lady friend’s house’ at the scandalous hour of 1 am. Revere was captured by the British while his two friends escaped. It was the sleezy doctor, Samuel Prescott, who completed the ride, but Revere’s name rhymes with more things, so it’s him we heard about in the poem.
Image source: pocketfrog77, John Singleton Copley
#20
That the Kim’s created everything, not that “imperialist scum”.
Best Korea, indeed.
Image source: anon, Lukas Kindl / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#21
Pretty much everything about the Pilgrims of early America. The real reason they left is because they were kicked out of England first for being overly religious and really pushy to everyone. Then they went to Holland where they got kicked out again for being jerks. Finally they never intended to land on Plymouth Rock, they ran out of beer and stopped there.
Image source: notjawn, Robert Walter Weir
#22
That all government is bad. I think people these days are starting to think that “freedom” and “anarchy” are synonyms, or close to it.
Also, people thinking that America is “the most free country in the world.” I believe this to be highly debatable considering how much of our population per capita is in jail, and that the few things which are legal in this country that are illegal in other developed nations might not necessarily be things that ought to be legal.
Image source: arksien, Clément Proust / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#23
Diamonds are rare and valuable.
Image source: anon, Carmen Soler / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#24
That you’ll automatically be mugged/attacked if you’re white and you walk through a low-income neighbourhood.
Image source: TRILLIAMSBURG, Alexey Demidov / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#25
I lived with a French family for a bit this summer, and they were CONVINCED that chocolate + coffee was very bad for you. I had heard of the French fear of eggs + milk, which was created as a way of rationing food (During WWII?), so I assumed this was a similar thing. I didn’t have the heart to argue, just shrugged and moved on…
Image source: GoyoTattoo, cami / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#26
The belief that the guillotine was invented in France, it was intact invented in the Yorkshire town of halifax.
Image source: Presidentsteven, Eline Spee / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#27
The idea of that most communist countries represented Marxist ideologies. The closest that I can think of was Cuba.
That America “won” the Cold War. They did not, or at least, not in the traditional sense.
And also, with the benefit of hindsight Nuclear Weapons were essential in stopping the Cold War from becoming “Hot”. I’m not denying that we were on the brink of Nuclear inhalation, but there very presence stopped both super-powers from starting WW3.
And finally, I hate to say this because I’m English, but the US did more to kick start the Northern Ireland peace-process that we ever did. To be honest, we were terrible with N. Ireland.
Image source: speedoflife, Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#28
I think most Americans don’t understand the real definition of socialism, and are changing the definition to fit their propaganda.
Ask most Americans to explain the difference between socialism and communism and you’ll get a bunch of blank looks.
Plenty of things our government does are socialistic: from building infrastructure to bailing out banks and auto companies to funding research programs at universities. All of these are examples of our economic resources being allocated based on central planning instead of by free market forces, thus socialism.
It does not mean we aren’t a democracy, it doesn’t mean people can’t own private property, it doesn’t mean the government controls everything in our lives.
We’ve been taught so strongly that socialism is evil when we encounter actual socialism we think: “well, this isn’t so evil, so it must not be socialism”.
Image source: student_of_yoshi, Chris F / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#29
The Quarians have the largest fleet in the Galaxy. Not after the Geth wiped them out.
The Protheans built the Mass Relays and The Citadel.
Image source: anon, Alexandra Karnasopoulos / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#30
Recall hearing there were a number of made up stories in Soviet Russia about war heroes, social heroes and general sacrifice. Despite people coming forward stating they made up the people, some old generations in Russia find it difficult to believe their childhood heroes never existed and not sure but i think still celebrate public holidays in their honour.
Image source: apple_kicks, REFARGOTOHP / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#31
That the Germans were the first to use the concentration camp.
Pretty sure that it was used in a large way by the British during the Second Boer War.
And there were probably many before that as well.
Image source: squiddey4
#32
That GMO foods cause cancer.
Image source: dfurball
#33
That the democratic party is the left end of the political spectrum and anything beyond is crazy.
Image source: anon
#34
That Iran, if left to its own devices and not sanctioned and intimidated by Western nations, will “wipe Israel off the map.”.
Image source: FoxCMK
#35
That the colonist and Native Americans were bestest of friends.
Image source: aishaaa
#36
That America is a democracy. It’s not – there’s only two parties with near identical political views. What’s more, the engine that powers those politicians are the corporations which invest in both sides. Why do you think Obama couldn’t deliver on so many things? Being POTUS is mainly being PR head of ‘Muuurica.
In the meanwhile, the propaganda machine is running 24/7 to make poor Americans stupid enough to vote on people giving the rich ridiculous tax cuts, fondled by phrases as “wealth trickling down” and “health care is socialism, get out you evil commie!”. It’s coming to an end soon though, the system near imploded in 2008 and the cliff now is closer than ever.
Image source: polandpower
#37
That gay marriage causes a destruction of marriage in general.
Image source: dma1965
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