Lies

Have become acceptable

Lies have become open

We know this from the way any politician caught stealing or lying immediately says it is all political

The business man says it was not him

Happily lying without embarrassment

Not overly worried about being sent to prison knowing that their lawyers can spin more lies and get them off

Does it matter?

A world full of liars

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Openly cynical

In many environments openly contemptuous of those challenging them

In other countries people pretending not to notice or being too afraid to note the open corruption and intimidation and murder of those reporting their abuses

Liars openly contemptuous of the public

Knowing that they can get away with their lies

We say yes it does matter

In fact it more than matters because society cannot function fairly with gross misbehaviour running unchecked

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And fair societies are what we need in order to run this planet for the well being of all life around us

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No longer for just the well being of the few on this planet, it's very survival is at stake

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This is not an alarmist statement it is what humanity must find and create if it is to survive

Planet Earth cannot sustain itself in the face of the lies and corruption that lead to so many poor decisions based on the greedy needs of the few that are so rampant in many places today

The greed and selfishness that has resulted in our present global financial situation is a perfect example of where greed and corruption lead

Inevitably greed and selfishness feed on themselves and become unstoppable until disaster strikes

The world's bankers competed with each other for more and more profit and chose to pursue reckless strategies which resulted in our current mess

None of them could stop the greed imperative driving them to certain disaster

The lies they told themselves and the world being faithfully reported by the media

Are they apologetic?

Are they contrite?

Have they said they regret their decisions?

No just grudging apologies denying that they did any wrong

Time to say it as it is they made their decisions based on their greed for more

These people are weak and dishonest

These people have lied and continue to do so

Our politicians have yet to show that they understand the anger building amongst the public

And why am I going here?

Teaching 14-16 year olds in a London school recently I was challenged on this subject

The point being made was that no one gets punished or very seldom and that so many people in the public eye lie why should we not do the same?

If business people, bankers and politicians lie then why should we care about lying said another?

My answer was one that came at the subject from a different direction

Judgement by other men or society is not the only issue

Judgement by society may also not be the strongest reason why we should not lie

We should not lie because if we lie it sets us on a course where because we lie we must assume that others do too

If we assume that others lie as well then we change our experience of life

For the worse

As we continue to lie we learn to make the lie true in the sense that when we lie we learn to defend it and protest that it is the truth and this gets to the point where we actually believe our own lies

People who lie frequently become adept at saying a lie and within the next heart beat have convinced themselves that the lie is the truth

By becoming cynical about life and others liars justify themselves in their own eyes

Only this way can they live with themselves

They have to be right even when it is a lie, a lie which they tell themselves and others is the truth

Over time this leads to cynicism paranoia and this is not a nice state to live in

Trusting no one

Examples of this abound throughout history and to this day

A more interesting reason not to lie maybe is because it is morally wrong

Morals are the fabric of any group and without morals society descends into anarchy

Again examples abound with many countries today showing just what happens when lying is endemic

On a personal level something inside us intuitively knows lying to be wrong

It is this knowing that is the only argument against which there is no reply

We know inside that lying is wrong

Over time not lying is also less wearing

Not lying means less stress when thinking about how we answer any given question

Nor do we get so stressed about the tension that naturally arises when the choice to lie or not to lie arises
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We do not lie

Lying is a poor life strategy

Lying is for the weak

Most of the students agreed with my comments

Not all though as one who wants to go into politics said he did not agree because lying is necessary sometimes and he felt this was fine and intended to lie in order to get ahead

And when the lie sometimes becomes the norm where are you then?

My only comment to him was that he had missed the point as life is not only about man things

Life is about doing what is right

Life is about contribution and altruism

Life is about being the best we can in any given situation

This means following the moral and ethical innate something that is inside all of us

Not sure I persuaded him but if he thinks about it then maybe this is OK too

The decision is his as it is for all of us

Lying might seem obscure to our survival but this is not so our future depends on how we choose to behave

And what example are the young getting today?

Make sure that in your own life you are the best that you can be