In times of deep distrust, reclaiming truth is rebellion

Elon Musk’s early-June X post alleging President Donald Trump’s presence in unreleased Jeffrey Epstein files, later deleted, sparked global outrage. This claim, hinting at a cover-up, underscores how government contradictions, amplified by Big Tech and Big Pharma, fuel social turbulence, fake news, and conspiracy theories. We blame social media for all this. But I think that the Epstein conspiracy, COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and this week’s Iran war propaganda reveal how governments, not just social media, erode the democratic episteme – that shared truth foundation vital for democracy.

‘I’m sick and tired of hearing things/ From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocritics/ All I want is the truth/ Just give me some truth’.

Sex.

The Jeffrey Epstein case thrives on conflicting government narratives. Epstein, convicted of sex trafficking minors, reportedly died by suicide in 2019, a finding the FBI reaffirmed in June 2025; yet 45% of Americans suspect that he was murdered to protect elites like President Trump or Bill Clinton. US Attorney General Pam Bondi, on May 8, 2025, claimed that the FBI held ‘thousands of hours’ of Epstein videos involving child sex crimes, promising transparency post-redaction. Contrarily, FBI Director Kash Patel recently denied that such videos exist, further fuelling cover-up theories. Trump’s delay in declassifying files deepens this distrust.

‘I’ve had enough of reading things/ By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians/ All I want is the truth/ Just give me some truth’.

Drugs.

Musk’s X, while exposing Epstein’s contradictions, also spread vaccine misinformation, bridging to COVID-19’s legacy of distrust. In 2020–2021, Pfizer and other big pharma vaccines, rolled out under emergency authorisations, faced scrutiny for limited trials, with established myocarditis and other health risks emerging later. Child mandates, despite a low paediatric risk, sparked outrage, with Pew Research showing that 30% of Americans viewed mandates as politically motivated rather than health-driven.

And there was politics aplenty. Where did all the protests go after Covid came? Governments, including India’s, claimed health priorities to prevent citizens from gathering in public. At the same time, they stifled dissent and even reasonable and evidentiary lab-origin debates, notably censoring dissenting scientists. These contradictions – health versus control – ignited fake news and conspiracies, eroding the democratic episteme.

‘No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of Tricky Dicky/ Is going to Mother Hubbard soft soap me/ With just a pocketful of soap/ Money for dope’.

Rock and Roll.

John Lennon’s 1971 Gimme Some Truth ties Epstein’s cover-up and vaccine distrust to war propaganda, decrying all these ‘short-haired regimes’. In 2025, this gritty classic can be heard anew to target the present push for war against Iran, a propaganda effort echoing Bush’s 2003 Iraq lies. Iraq’s fabricated WMDs, debunked post-invasion (in spite of 1 million deaths), parallel the new narrative against Iran: a June 2025 Pentagon briefing cites ‘proxy aggression’, but the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, denies Iran’s nuclear ambitions, citing IAEA reports showing no weapons-grade uranium. Conversely, Israel’s Prime Minister and Trump both insist that preemptive strikes are ‘essential’, contradicting Gabbard’s public findings.

Speaking of war, Prime Minister Modi has just denied Trump’s truth of brokering an India-Pakistan ceasefire, asserting bilateral talks ended the May 2025 conflict. We ordinary citizens are thus left to determine who is truthing and who is lying between India’s most powerful man, and the world’s.

Meanwhile, ‘America First’ ultra-right voices like Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, and Marjorie Taylor Greene vocally oppose the Iran war, while long-standing neocons like Lindsey Graham push for intervention. Like the ‘axis of evil’ propaganda from two decades ago, the narrative against Iran exploits fear, with Big Tech amplifying both hype and resistance, further fracturing the truth.

The Epstein Episteme.

The Epstein conspiracy, COVID policies, and Iran buildup share a common core: government deception consistently eroding trust. Epstein’s case reveals elites shielded by redactions and destroyed evidence. COVID’s inconsistent narratives fuelled fake news and conspiracies. The Iran buildup, like Iraq’s WMD lies, uses propaganda to manufacture consent, defying Lennon’s plea for some truth. Each fuels distrust – 30% of the US population distrusts their media (Pew Research), and 26% globally doubt online news (Ipsos).

But all these stories expose a deeper truth: propaganda thrives on fear, whether of predators, pandemics, or foreign threats. For me, frustration outweighs fear. And John Lennon’s Gimme Some Truth serves as a rallying cry against all the manipulation. The Epstein files demand unredacted justice, COVID lessons call for transparent science, and sabre-rattling contra Iran requires skepticism of war drums.

‘Sex, drugs, and rock and roll’ once meant rebellion; now it’s a warning – distrust festers when truth is denied, and war looms when propaganda prevails. Lennon’s voice, echoing through 2025, demands we resist the lies and reclaim the truth.

‘I’ve had enough of watching scenes/ With schizophrenic, egocentric, paranoiac, prima-donnas/ All I want is the truth, now-now/ Just give me some truth’.

(Aakash Singh Rathore as Dr Jekyll is a Professor of Philosophy, Politics and Law, author and editor of over 20 books and counting, and as Mr Hyde, one of India’s top-ranking Ironman triathletes. X: @ASR_metta)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.