WE LOVE TO LIE

 

WE LOVE TO LIE

Justice is not blind.  WE are blind to justice!

I was raised in a large farming family and we were all expected to work hard and contribute according to our abilities.  Besides good work ethics my parents also frowned on lying and stealing and disrespectful behavior.  They didn’t tolerate any of it.  Now we’re talking moral ethics.  And yet in life we lie a lot and lie about just about anything.  Why do we do it and why so often?  As a writer, a student of philosophy, history and the humanities I will not even pretend that I can give you a definitive answer, but I will peel back some of the layers we’re all familiar with.  A lot of it has to do with that elusive concept called humanity, what it means to be human and act humane.  What we’re asked to aspire to (mainly by the ‘authorities’ in charge; church and state, teachers and parents) is a reality that defies the fragility that is life.  I am going to take a few detours to illustrate why we lie with such ease and such frequency.

We’re not in control, never have been and never will be.  It’s one of the reasons why we find ourselves out of control so many times and why we’re lying with such ease.

As pointed out by Tennessee Williams, the journey of life leads to an inevitable conclusion.  What happens in our lives from point of entry to exit is pure happenstance.  Our existence is foremost and primarily acknowledged by ourselves (we’re all ego-trippers), hopefully by parents and family, the communities we grow up in and if we’re really lucky, by some in the wider world around us.  In reality we’re nothing more than insignificant grains of sand flowing through the fingers of time.  Others may look back on our lives and examine its worth (one of the main reasons why we publish obituaries, yes, once upon a time he/she was one of us).  For a few the memories may linger a bit longer, but most of us are soon forgotten, recycled back into terra firma as insignificant particles and atoms.  Since life is short—in a universe that spans billions of lightyears and has existed for many more—we’re a mere cosmic blip.  Something we hate to acknowledge. 

It is therefore not surprising that while alive we cling to life with a tenacity that is surprising.  And the lengths some of us are willing to go through to leave a lasting mark is mindboggling.  All that enterprise and some of it so destructive that it blows the mind.  We would do well to remember that even the worst of the worst and the best of the best are eventually reduced to insignificance.  And once you’re dead, who cares!

Nothing induces lying more than believing and like a true trooper I will take the expected criticism coming my way on the chin.  Let’s face it.  From the time we’re born most of us are inoculated with a hefty dose of religion.  If we readily and willingly accept all the illusions, myths and fabrications as dished up by all faiths, then you have to realize that we’re raised to embrace outright fabrications and lies without question.  Faith makes a mockery of truth, facts and science.  A level of deception so ingrained that it gives credence to the fact that perhaps we prefer to be deceived and lied to.  Why bother with brotherly love and lofty ideals, of a mindful and thoughtful approach to life and living, when we embrace the opposite with much more gusto and fervor.  Our faults and mistakes rise to fore with such alarming frequency that it supports the notion that our much vaunted awareness prefers deception and abuse.  Why support decent human beings as leaders when you can vote for a clown instead?  That superior brain of ours has turned us into the most unreliable and destructive species on Earth.  It is one of the reasons why we don’t get upset with lies and liars.  We want to be lied to, and, we want to lie.  Because it justifies almost anything we do!  Lies are a like a comfortable blanket that we can hide beneath as it excuses and covers up all our weaknesses and our reluctance to act responsibly.  We are more comfortable with dishonesty than the truth, because the truth hurts.

Liar, liar, your pants are on fire.

When it comes to lying there is no getting around this guy.

Trump’s popularity for instance is in part due to the fact that he constantly lies.   Consciously and subconsciously he is a validation of our own ineptitude and shortcomings.  He is giving the masses a break away from the usual moralists parading as presidential candidates, standing on their soapboxes, wagging their fingers and admonishing us to be good little boys and girls.  We’re much more comfortable with a character flouting convention and the law.  He is much closer to our true nature and when he’s excused for his faults, lies and shenanigans, so can we.  And therein lies the beauty of lies and the lies we prefer.  To hell with convention and righteous expectations.  Instead, whoop it up, holler and discriminate.  Who wants to constantly live inside a straitjacket of conformity and compliance as prescribed by those in a position of authority?

I have explained in previous articles that basically most of us are underachievers and there is nothing wrong with that.  We’re usually happy to get by with the least amount of effort.  Such is the nature of the beast.  And we’re part of that world (the natural one) whether we like it or not.  Overachievers are a rare breed anyway and even they will only do it in short bursts.  Nothing is ever sustained.

Combine a short and fragile existence with base instincts and volatile emotions and lying takes on a whole new and much more acceptable perspective.  I still don’t approve of lying and neither should you, but I’m trying to explain the why and why so often!  Life is just not nice and rarely easy.  Depending on where you are born, when and under what circumstances, life can quickly turn into a tedium, and boredom can quickly turn into resentment and rebellion.  So many things go bust in our lives.  From jobs to relationships.  From a bed of roses straight to the shitter.  Life is a crapshoot from start to finish. 

The greater the lie, the more effort we put into it.

Nothing skates closer to the surface of questionable truths and practices than organized religion.  We go out of our way to embellish a truth desired: miracles, heavenly appearances and characters, talking bushes, divine powers, holy animals, chariots streaking through the sky, multi-headed serpents.  Seemingly there is no end to the myths and stories concocted when a fertile mind can truly conjure up the most amazing things and pass it off as real.  There is that wonderful phrase: tell a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.  Wrap the whole thing up in pomp and pageantry, fantastic buildings filled with works of art, music, rituals, relics and costumes appropriate for the various festivals celebrating special occasions that have occurred in the lives of the many holy men involved in developing the charade.  Put it all in holy books, preferably in a language laypeople don’t understand, put specially appointed clergy in charge of administering the rites and after centuries of mandatory attendance and compliance, of propaganda and indoctrination, voila, it literally turns into gospel.  And the beauty of it all . . . you’re asked to believe without question, because, if you don’t . . . you’re not a true believer.  And your reward, whether you’re life was shitty or absolutely amazing . . . life after death.  An afterlife.  Heaven.  Resurrection.  One catch!  You have to die first.  Tennessee Williams got that one spot on.

We lie because we’re frail and fragile.

We’re our own worst enemy when it comes to expectations.  Anyone can feel trapped by the pressures we put on ourselves and those ingrained in our societies. All the things we’re supposed to do and engage in: relationships, children, ageing gracefully, meaningful careers, looking great, feeling fine, multitasking, success, accomplishments.  It never stops.  And life is no picnic.  Our fragile bodies and minds constantly succumb to temptation and failure.  When there is no way out and people feel stuck, resentment easily rises to the fore and it will fuel an awful lot of lies, because we lie to hide and ignore, to obfuscate and to pretend.  Lies are often fueled by resentment and when it affects multiple layers in society it can lead to institutional lying, especially when the inducement comes right from the top.

Societal failure has become institutionalized: persistent inflation, a lack of jobs and shrinking disposable incomes, huge debt loads, poor housing, unemployment and unfulfilling jobs, social unrest, overpopulation and cultures and customs clashing.  When failure comes nibbling at our doors it quickly leads to a general sense of unease and from it flows our worst fears, habits and concerns, and the lying we engage in becomes prevalent as we want to excuse our worst behaviors, when our humanity frays at the edges and primordial instincts take over.  We’re not a nice species when things sour.

Nobody gets out of this life alive: Tennessee Williams

That much maligned, so-called superior intelligence of ours and heightened levels of awareness, have led to a layering of lies that affects every strata of humanity.  Traditionally the many have always been at the mercy of a select few taking advantage of us in every way they can.  Democracy was supposed to put an end to this.  The tenets are obvious and worthy of praise.  All that equality and access, legal rights and even some constitutions alluding to a pursuit of happiness.  Democracy however, over time, drowns in promises made by electoral hopefuls and all that catering to our many whims and wishes comes at a hefty price.  Through economic manipulation and extensive lying on both sides; from those who promise and those wanting to fall for all those promises, the many are now once more beholden to the few through massive debt loads and a dependency on government handouts.

Lying takes on so many forms and comes in so many disguises that is becomes an ingrained habit.  And if you prefer a lie over the truth than facts no longer matter and that is what lies at the murky bottom of what we refer to as our humanity.  Even church and state in all their sometimes meaningful attempts to streamline and regulate our tempestuous behavior have fallen victim to encapsulating convenient lies in their right to often rule with impunity and defying all challenges.  A testament to our frivolous and cantankerous nature is our constant flip-flopping between ruling political parties.  What we as humans crave and eventually achieve is rarely articulated in a concise and predictable manner.  We muddle, stumble, fumble, grope and grasp our way through life.  One last sobering thought to honor Tennessee Williams and so many other thoughtful, intelligent people who have tried and who try, again and again, to implore us to use that intelligence of ours in more respectful ways: you only go through life once and there is no coming back for seconds, even for those misguided souls who believe in reincarnation.  It is just another lie.

Feel free to comment or share.  But . . . no lies!