Lies or liars - who's the enemy here?

I'm watching the US fascination with NY governor Spitzer's indiscretion. He was hiding what he was doing (albeit not very well) and got caught. He was lying to his family and the public with his false law and order face. I wonder how many other politicians are like that? Perhaps they don't all have affairs, but what else do they lie about. Hiding the truth is really no different than lying about it.

In Canada we've got probes into wrong doing by various government ministers and departments and they are being held up by political stalling over "access to information". In my time in the military I discovered that the real reason for most official secrets is their potential to embarass the country, not to do any harm. So why so many secrets? Clearly we have a lot to be embarassed about. And who's keeping the secrets a secret? Mostly politicians and politically minded civil servants when it comes to government. But curing government of all its stupidity seems pretty futile, although a worth goal.

What about individuals? Do they have secrets? Yes. Why? Same reason - the truth could be embarassing. Why? There is a fear that the truth could do harm. The harm has not been done yet, there is just fear of some future event that may or may not happen. So we put a lot of energy into avoiding what may not even happen only to create circumstances that lead others down dead end paths. If you've ever acted on a hot stock tip, or advice from someone biased you'll know what I mean.

Who's the enemy here? The liar? Yes, but there's more. The liar is lying because we allow it and even reward it. Not getting caught means that you've "won". In politics it appears that the better the liar the more we reward it. Just look at our current crop of politcal leaders - liars to the core. None of them carries out his or her promises. They keep information from us - ostensibly for the public good.

Of course the Liar isn't the only enemy here. We allow them! We are our own enemies here. Collectively we allow and reward it. We lie to ourselves. By allowing others and rewarding them for it, we encourage it. We clearly don't want the truth. Why? Because it might be painful. Perhaps it is, but it is the truth - nothing, no amount of lying will change that. Knowing the truth is empowering - once known, it can be dealt with.

Stop lying to others and yourself. Always provide the truth and expect it in return. Reward those who are honest, not those who lie.

Where can lying get you? Well look at the democratic presidential candidate race in the US. Someone has lied about whether or not the two candidates will really want to open up the NAFTA treaty for change. Perhaps Hilary Clinton lied, perhaps Barrack Obama lied, perhaps the news reporters lied, perhaps the Canadian politicians who "leaked" the news lied. We'll probably never know for sure who did, but we do know a lie was used. And the US will select the person most likely to be their next president in part because of the fallout of a lie. And they worry about "hanging chads" in Floida. What a joke!

Look around you. See the lies and the deception and the untold truth but more importantly, see what it creates. We create our own reality. After all, "Existence is but an Extension of Yourself" (source: The Wonders).