"All governments are run by liars and nothing they say should be believed"
About this Quote
Stone’s line lands like a brick through a pressroom window: not a theory of government, but a warning about how power protects itself. The absolutism is the point. “All governments” and “nothing” aren’t meant as airtight logic; they’re a rhetorical dare, forcing the reader to stop treating official statements as neutral information and start treating them as interested performance.
The intent is less nihilism than method. Stone built his reputation by reading what government preferred people not to read: budget tables, transcripts, footnotes, hearings. In that light, “liars” isn’t just an insult; it’s a job description for institutions that must sell wars, hide failures, and smooth over contradictions to stay legitimate. Governments can’t always speak plainly because plain truth often undermines consent. So they narrate. They sanitize. They rename casualties “collateral damage” and surveillance “security.” Stone’s cynicism is really an instruction manual for citizenship: don’t trust the press conference; trust the paper trail.
The subtext also takes a swipe at journalists who outsource skepticism to access. If you accept that “nothing they say should be believed,” the next question is: who benefits when reporters simply relay statements? Stone is arguing for adversarial journalism as a democratic necessity, not a temperament.
Context matters: a 20th-century America of propaganda, Cold War secrecy, Vietnam-era deception, and intelligence-state expansion. In that world, moral outrage becomes a practical tool. The line’s bluntness isn’t careless; it’s prophylactic, a way to inoculate the public against the seductive calm of official certainty.
The intent is less nihilism than method. Stone built his reputation by reading what government preferred people not to read: budget tables, transcripts, footnotes, hearings. In that light, “liars” isn’t just an insult; it’s a job description for institutions that must sell wars, hide failures, and smooth over contradictions to stay legitimate. Governments can’t always speak plainly because plain truth often undermines consent. So they narrate. They sanitize. They rename casualties “collateral damage” and surveillance “security.” Stone’s cynicism is really an instruction manual for citizenship: don’t trust the press conference; trust the paper trail.
The subtext also takes a swipe at journalists who outsource skepticism to access. If you accept that “nothing they say should be believed,” the next question is: who benefits when reporters simply relay statements? Stone is arguing for adversarial journalism as a democratic necessity, not a temperament.
Context matters: a 20th-century America of propaganda, Cold War secrecy, Vietnam-era deception, and intelligence-state expansion. In that world, moral outrage becomes a practical tool. The line’s bluntness isn’t careless; it’s prophylactic, a way to inoculate the public against the seductive calm of official certainty.
Quote Details
| Topic | Truth |
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