A new phenomenon is at work. It is called counter knowledge and is a trend in TV and films to blur the distinction between fact and fiction. Directors and producers pretend that their films are based on true stories. People are coerced into believing and totally false legends are unleashed.
Did you hear the one about the CIA creating AIDS, or the Bush administration attacking the twin towers or the murder of Princess Diana by the British Secret Service?
In tandem with counter knowledge is the growing belief that individuals have the right to correct or change truth or fact according to their own beliefs.
So, we now have the holocaust deniers, the "interpretive" teaching of history in our schools and the ultimate change instrument, Wikipedia. Here you can change all the world's knowledge with the stroke of a key, without the benefits of education, authority or conscience.
Dangerous stuff? People are just waking up to just how dangerous the trend is.
Think of the costs. What were the effects of the "Population Bomb"? Remember Y2K? And now, of course, there is Global Warming.
Have a look at the fishing industry. Shark populations are at critically low levels; over fishing is everywhere; the Great Barrier Reef will die in 20 years; prawn diseases are rampant, and dugongs critically endangered!
Is the promotion of this rubbish intentional, duplicitous, perhaps malevolent?
Fishermen think so. A growing number of scientists and professionals do. There are even a few politicians coming on-board.
Counter knowledge in fishing must stop. It must be stopped by a concerted action before the industry is lost forever.
