I think if you're a materialist you have to be pretty accepting of lies that don't directly harm anyone. If a lie doesn't directly harm anyone and it helps advance us towards a material improvement, how can a materialist not at least be fine with it?
The fundamental problem is that while you want to be as truthful with people as possible (for all sorts of reasons), people rarely make radical changes to their beliefs all at once. Most people come around one step at a time and will punch out if you push too much, too fast. It takes a determined effort to keep people moving in the right direction. So if you lie about something distant that would cause them to instantly, unthinkingly reject you, but you make progress with them on some more immediate subject, how is that not acceptable? The alternative -- complete truth that alienates the person you need to persuade -- doesn't get the job done, so it can't possibly be the right answer.
Agitation/propaganda is a form of lying, but it's an integral part of organizing for change. Now lying to subvert the needs of the workers and steal their surplus value, that's bad.
I think if you're a materialist you have to be pretty accepting of lies that don't directly harm anyone. If a lie doesn't directly harm anyone and it helps advance us towards a material improvement, how can a materialist not at least be fine with it?
The fundamental problem is that while you want to be as truthful with people as possible (for all sorts of reasons), people rarely make radical changes to their beliefs all at once. Most people come around one step at a time and will punch out if you push too much, too fast. It takes a determined effort to keep people moving in the right direction. So if you lie about something distant that would cause them to instantly, unthinkingly reject you, but you make progress with them on some more immediate subject, how is that not acceptable? The alternative -- complete truth that alienates the person you need to persuade -- doesn't get the job done, so it can't possibly be the right answer.
Agitation/propaganda is a form of lying, but it's an integral part of organizing for change. Now lying to subvert the needs of the workers and steal their surplus value, that's bad.