Urban legends

Not long ago, I published a piece on Urban legends as weapons of psychological warfare. In the email age, these legends take the form of texts without any listed author. The writing style is usually punchy and professional. The political slant is almost always right-wing.

Now the Los Angeles Times has published a story which tends to confirm my belief that these "legends" are not folklore in the classic sense. Folklore makes itself. In my view, these stories are being seeded into the popular consciousness by skillful paid operatives.

The Times story notes that the tort reform movement is based on erroneous beliefs conveyed to the public by a pseudo-folkloric route:

These fables have also been widely disseminated by columnists and pundits who, in their haste to expose the gullibility of juries, did not verify the stories and were taken in themselves.

Although the origins of the tales are unknown, some observers, including George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, say their wide acceptance has helped to rally public opinion behind business-led campaigns to overhaul the civil justice system by restricting some types of lawsuits and capping damage awards.

"I am astonished how successful these urban legends have been in influencing policy," Turley said. "The people that created these stories did so with remarkable skill."

I am glad that Turley did not pretend that these so-called "legends" arose through spontaneous generation.

We need a new term for such stories. I propose "Pseudo-lore" and "Fakelore"