I have learned with age that part of life is navigating past disillusionment. With humility we recommit to resilience. The rules have clearly changed on us. What we thought we learned was dependably true no longer seems so.
Defeat is a temporary condition as long as we choose to continue to advocate for character, integrity, and justice. There is no silencing honesty and lies will always be lies.
Perhaps this is a good time to re-read 1984 by George Orwell. First-time readers are equally likely to be astonished by its prescience and relevance. As long as 2 + 2 = 4, the notion of shared understanding remains in the realm of the possible. There is no interpretation of 2 + 2 = 4; it is always so. Facts must be facts.
Can human beings be bullied to answer otherwise? Can we be compelled to state openly that 2 + 2 = 5? That‘s what’s on the table. There has to be such a thing as empirical reality or all bets are off. When too many people are convinced otherwise, a community can no longer function without chaos. Fear can never cause us to deny the objectivity we know to be true or freedom deteriorates to a misnomer of ethical compromise.
Demanding honesty has to be bipartisan or the ability to cooperate despite our differences becomes impossible. We insist on honesty from our children and teach them this is a fundamental value. One of the first lessons we teach a child is that lying is always wrong. Tell the truth always, take ownership for your mistakes, do not justify doing harm to others, do not cheat, build trust with others through consistent honesty. We must then lead by example, all of us, or the teaching is corrosively undermined.
Understanding science is part of embracing honesty. Sorting past rhetoric to examine the assembled results of structured experiments is not easy work, but without that ceaseless effort, it’s easy to be deceived. Scientific process will forever evolve, that is its nature. We unpack the natural world as we explore it through the generations, century after century.
Sometimes we arrive at settled knowledge. Sometimes we make decisions based on prevailing proof. When an idea gets turned over, that is not a matter of subjectivity but disciplined argument and expert peer review. There are subject matter experts who have earned their authority. Internet and social media noise are forms of unedited expression, not authority.
Insist on honesty from all those in your life who would tell you otherwise. We can’t become cynical or the inspiration to effect positive change will elude us. We are still in this together, our empathy is our strength. What better choice do we have than to be even more honest versions of ourselves?
Raise your voice, maintain your courage, never cave to false promise. Blame is a coward’s tactic, not a sustainable motivation. Hope will lift us up. A setback is a moment in time.
We fight on.
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Book Cover Image: Signet Classics