Why Leaders Lie
An extremely astute article on the state of American politics. I think worth the time to read and then discuss.
Jerome Huyler is a former assistant professor at Seton Hall University. He earned his PhD in political science from the New School University in 1992 and his bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College, where he majored in philosophy. He is also the author of: Locke in America: The Moral Philosophy of the Founding Era. And Everything You Have: The Case Against Welfare.
Jerome Huyler is a former assistant professor at Seton Hall University. He earned his PhD in political science from the New School University in 1992 and his bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College, where he majored in philosophy. He is also the author of: Locke in America: The Moral Philosophy of the Founding Era. And Everything You Have: The Case Against Welfare.
That they deny reality goes without saying.
Good feelings always do.
As you know, I lived for 21 years where, if you said loudly a politically incorrect truth, you might be expelled from school, loose your job, put through a phony trial on the way to jail, or just put against the wall and shot dead. I have to tell you that I spent a lot of time thinking very hard about why these things become possible. In the end, I extracted what I consider an axiom, a quasi scientific principle (definition: a self evident truth which nothing in human experience ever contradicted): PEOPLE GET THE GOVEERNMENTS THEY DESERVE.
Derivatives: if you do not rebel, you accept; if you do not have the courage to take the risk of opposing tyranny, you cannot possibly earn your own freedom etc. etc.
If the axiom is true, how do the people "deserve" tyranny? At the bottom, I believe it is because of inadequate education (for me, education = parenting + schooling). I say this because I think, on the surface, people "deserve" tyranny by being irrationally optimistic, by being self-delusional about reality, by being unable to read and listen between the lines of the sophisticated propaganda thrown at them, by not being trained in careful thinking and unable to stick with the inviolate logic.
Over there, I found myself, in my twenties, in a place where majorities accepted the propaganda of the "peaceful" tyranny in the aftermath of the horrific WWII (10% of the population dead). My choices: (1) join the party and thus become a 1st class citizen (and eternal liar), (2) remain silent and "safely" never achieve my potential, (3) try to organize rebellion, which at that time I considered nearly suicidal (my goal number one was to raise kids that will become better people than I am, not to let the tyranny indoctrinate them into subservience). I concluded that I had to leave and I did. I achieved all my important goals because I became free to do as I wished.
I think that in the real world the Rand's Gulch does not exist, but behind it is the idea that a shared vision of a better world leads to the creation of that better world.
For me, all this means that my kids' generation will have to find a way to enlighten a majority of Americans that there is a much better world than the one collectivists (progressives, leftists, socialists, communist, liberals - let's leave for another day the "out-of-focusness" of all these labels) try to impose, or split the country (ever heard of blue and red states?) and save only a piece of it as a beacon of free life, individual rights and unbridled innovation in pursuit of happiness. I never ceased to be impressed how tiny Athens of Pericles and Florence of the Medici were and how enormous and eternal influence they had on humanity's development.
As an aside. Not all leaders lie. I claim that I never lied to my kids. As the owner of my own business for 20 years, I claim that I never lied to my employees nor to my customers. I believe that it is true that George Washington never lied.
What say you?
I want the best world for my children. therefore, I need the best world for me.
I do too. How do I participate in helping to build that best world?
am not there yet but if it does happen (?) it will
be abhorrent to most of us !
Thank you. Very worthy read. :)
Regards,
O.A.
Today many accept the fact that politicians lie.
I don't.
To the leftist statist, the end justifies the means
The double standards, the manipulation ,indeed the fear of reality , the lack of conscious responsibility for words and actions all done with a nauseating arrogance .FOF
Far better is the story of Abraham Lincoln, who while working as a youth as a store clerk realized that a customer had overpaid and he had incorrectly calculated the change due. After leaving work that day he walked the several miles to the customer's home to return the money - only a few cents in the day.
Thanks Blarman have a great day!
He claimed that it was impossible to know because both candidates blatantly lie.
Either one cant do a lot on their own- it takes the congress to agree and most likely it will be divided. Therefore, the promises made by either candidate cant be taken too seriously (EVER) for that reason. Congress seem not to agree on anything really except perhaps a declaration of war after some intense and sneaky attack (like Pearl Harbor).
That is bull $hip.
Some have been brain washed into thinking it is necessary to achieve certain goals but if one had a conscience, no matter the goal, could not lie in the first place.
The rest of that lying population are just psychologically retarded. These entities are the great unwashed and we find ourselves awash in a sea of creatures like this and amazingly they followed the pide piper of liars, all the way to Washington DC.
The End.
I am curious, who are those 'those'?
A post that says jbrenner does not belong here deserves a downpost.
Now, jbrenner being among the top of really good posters on this site,
quality over quantity, has posed this dilemma to work out,
do not hold your breath while I decide.
The American people are the shareholders in government, which is supposed to be answerable to us. It is not acceptable for government executives to hide behind artificial barriers and fabricate whatever fiction suits their needs of the moment, but that's where we are today.
The screaming illustration of the death of truth and facts is the broad support for Hillary Clinton. Staring us in the face, she lies about the lies she's told to cover her lies, and she still has fervent believers who trust her to hold the highest office in the land.
Reading this I felt like I was listening to a defense attorney explaining the viciousness of a serial killer as understandable due to an abusive childhood. I have no desire to understand the twisted thought processes that lead to an acceptance of dishonest, immoral behavior.