Jimmy Carter wrote about the need for presidents to be honest this morning.
There were quite a few people who wrote in and said awful things about him in response. The venom of Republicans against this man is incredible. They can't stand that he actually lives his Christian values, it seems. He tries to be a peacemaker, and that means meeting with those who live in ways that you don't agree with.
That said, the following was the comment I sent in:
This discussion reminds me of Gandhi, and his philosophy of Satyagraha.
People take Carter to be naive, if not foolish, for saying things like this. But that's because most people have their lives wrapped in tangles of little lies, and it's generally believed that this is the way you 'get by' in life. The world is a mess, largely as a result of this. We can't trust our politicians or the political process. We can't trust the media. We can't trust businessmen, or those who represent them. We can't trust people who say they're in need at social services offices. Webs of lies are all around us, and cynicism grows with each passing year.
Gandhi believed in the power of truth. He believed that one must find the truth and live it. And he showed that it works.
"Be the change you want to see in the world," he said. We can't wait for Presidents to tell the truth. We can't wait for the oil industry to tell the truth. It starts with us. Each individual and each community must strive to live the truth, and then it will become far less tolerable to accept these untruths from political and business leaders.
2 comments:
Very true, Olav. And yet there's another dimension to honesty. Prima facie, Bush's radio address yesterday, entitled "Mother's Day," seems like truth—that he cares about the mothers and children—but deeper down yesterday’s address is a lie. He says, "On this Mother's Day weekend, we remember the mothers grieving a son or daughter lost in the service to their country, as well as the children who have lost a mother in uniform." While his defenders (both of them--George H. W. and Barbara) would point to this address to say how concerned he is, the reality is that he got us into the war via lies in the first place (see, “Leading to War” http://www.leadingtowar.com), and he continues his disregard for human life by doing everything in his power to keep the war going and pass it on in full force to his successor. There are 4,075 US soldiers dead—but it’s hardly worth typing down because in a few days or so it’ll be topping 4,100… Not to mention, there are about 1.2 million associated deaths so far (see http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html). Talk about a web of lies…Gee Dubya is so tightly bound in a web he can’t say anything without disturbing or impacting another 10 or 15 lies. It’s a sad, sad situation.
as an american too long abroad, seeing through the eyes of a foriegner now, i read the concerns here and feel too that there may be no addressing them, any new president dropped into the seat of power now is but a creature of the 'same old bank'...and will be fit into the suit he is required to wear and however honest at outset will learn the lie. it is actually the nature of the thing now. truth becomes impossible.
thanks for pulling this stuff to the surface. anyway, i am but a distant relative of your Attorney General.
Post a Comment