The phrase reality-based community was attributed to an unnamed aide in the George W. Bush Administration by journalist Ron Suskind; the aide used the phrase to denigrate a critic of the administration's policies as someone who based their judgements on facts. In a 2004 article appearing in the New York Times Magazine, Suskind wrote:
The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' [...] 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that realityâ€"judiciously, as you willâ€"we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do'.
The source of the quotation was later identified as Bush's senior advisor Karl Rove, although Rove has denied saying it. International Relations scholar Fred Halliday wrote that the phrase reality-based community (in contrast to faith-based community) was "a term of disparagement in the Bush Administration for those who did not share their international goals and aspirations". According to liberal media critic and journalism professor Jay Rosen, "Many on the left adopted the term. 'Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community,' their blogs said. The right then jeered at the left’s self-description."
See also
- Consensus reality
- Fake news website
- Post-truth politics
- Truthiness
References
Further reading
- Danner, Mark (2007). "Words in a Time of War: On Rhetoric, Truth and Power". In Szántó, András. What Orwell Didn't Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics (1st ed.). New York: PublicAffairs. pp. 16â€". ISBN 978-1-58648-560-3.Â
External links
- "The Reality Based Community" a blog by Mark Kleiman
