And, lying to the public for financial gain is not a problem?
So, where did all the adults go? You know, the ones who are supposed to set the example for others who don't know any better. Apparently, we're no longer smarter than a second-grader (where we emphasize the importance of NOT lying — ask my wife, who has to teach second-graders not to lie over and over again).
I guess it is OK, though, if you're making money at it...at least until you lose a bunch of it when you get caught.
Selling it must be fine as long as you lie (again) about what you're calling it — how about conspiracy theories? Then, it's not really lying, it's just catering to an audience, who will give you their attention-money to do it.
I wish I was better at sarcasm, which is a rather lame way to poke at something far more insidious than poking fun deserves.
Even though this is a well-worn path these days, it needs to be repeated — truth has to matter at some point. Lie if you can get away with it, is not sustainable. We even have laws all over the place that require you to tell the truth. Is that really necessary? Apparently, it is. Look where you end up with out them.
There's lying, distortion, and mis-representation on all sides to be sure (especially when power and money is involved). That, however, should underscore the point, rather than acquiesce to it.
While there is way more subjectivity to truth than we suspected in the good 'ole days, this doesn't mean there is no objectivity to it. History has always worked with refining definitions of objectivity (the earth really isn't the center of the universe, it isn't flat, etc.). We have to. There is constancy and fluidity. Both — not one without the the other.
All too often, it seems, we are using one kind of truth to inform another kind. This is often where things break-down. But, we must remain vigilant that any improvement in our understanding of truth is for the benefit of having it in the first place. Maybe it isn't as much this as it is that. But, if it is that, then we still need to operate from there (even if it does seem to change again).
We want to know the truth. We need to know it (at least some of it). Without it, we end up with mob-rule or fascism.
Besides, truth makes us better at our mutual co-existence. The alternative is pretty apparent, isn't it? Peddlers of lies, even when veiled as conspiracies, are clearly about the aggregation of power and influence and, too often, pure unbridled personal gain. And equally, too often, at the expense of someone else. Gain for some, at the loss of others...sometimes, unending loss). This is not the beauty of human existence, where all benefit from the best features of our inter-dependence with each other (and everything else). This is mutual destruction, where nobody really wins in the end.
Like it or not, we are in this together. But, for it to be good, we must rely on a shared and deepening understanding of what is true.
We can't tolerate lying — in second grade OR after.
