Honesty is the Best Policy (rofl)

A recent column in The West despaired of the falling level of truth and honesty in society. Why are we more prone to lying? the columnist asked. Is it the declining standards of honesty displayed by politicians? I don't believe that politicians are lying more. It's just that the lying is more visible... With more media coverage, more people have a chance to see the lying. And why should we be honest when those in power are as crooked as a dog's hind leg? When I was a low level employee, I was happy and content. I did my job, did it to the best of my ability, believed that everyone else was doing the same.

..o0o..

Thinking Lateral
Need new thinking for your own problems? email nick leth at gmail dot com

After a series of gradual promotions I became a senior professional and a low level manager. As a professional, I did my best with my work and believed that others also did their best. As a manager, I was involved with other managers... and the more I saw, the more disillusioned I became. Working with other managers opened my eyes to a world of self-serving dishonesty... Sure, there were some very honest managers. There were also all shades of "less honest" managers -- right up to the ones who had already sold their own grandmothers to attain their current positions. Because that's what it's all about: doing whatever is necessary to win. (Though to be fair, most would sell someone else's grandmother before their own.) To succeed in business there are -- from what I saw -- several options:

• Outstanding ability. This would work best if tied in with...
• Willingness to agree with the boss. Disagreement is a "CLM", a career limiting move.
• Work hard, harder than the next person. As long as you are clearly seen to be working on what the boss wants.
• Tear down the opposition.
• Lie about your accomplishments.

What I saw was that dishonesty -- in its various forms -- was both the key to success -- and as common as muck. Why did I see this? I saw it because -- as a low level manager -- I mixed in with the other managers... I was there, so I saw what was happening. How does this relate to honesty (or dishonesty) in society? Politicians -- or their equivalents, the earlier, less "democratic" rulers -- were a mixture of good and bad. What did the average person know about this? Next to nothing -- politicians and the people moved in completely different circles, there was no overlap, no communication between the two groups. Now we have a different situation: the daily newspapers need to fill their pages, they are quite happy to discuss -- in excruciating detail -- the lies and corruption of politicians. For those who cannot read, TV and radio offer similar services. When political lies are thin on the ground -- there is always big business. With all this evidence of dishonesty, what is the average person to think? What are they to do? It's not a case of, Mum'd kill me if I lied about this, or, The boss'd sack me if I didn't do my best. Now it's, This politician and that business leader did worse, perhaps I can get ahead if I stretch the truth a bit... We have the influence of family and friends, to be good, be careful, be honest. Against that we have the obvious success stories -- the people who have gained power, influence and money... and are now very obviously corrupt. It must be true, we see it in the papers every day. It must be acceptable, TV bombards us with stories of "successful" people who act dishonestly. That is what is wrong with us, why ordinary people seem to be less honest than they were. It's because we are more able to see how our "leaders" act... we can see what it -- apparently -- takes to succeed. And if that's how "our leaders" get ahead -- why should we not do the same?

Can we change this?

Well, we could ask our politicians to be more honest. (Then they would not win party pre-selection, let alone elections. So they would tell us.) We could ask our business leaders to be more honest. (Then they would be sacked, or go bankrupt. (So they would tell us.) There is an easier solution: Ban TV news and stop teaching people to read. Without TV and without newspapers, ordinary people would not know about the corruption amongst their leaders. They would then -- knowing no better -- assume that honesty is, indeed, the best policy.

..o0o..

Independent Thinking
Independent analysis of your problems by Agamedes Consulting. Support for your thought: email nick leth at gmail dot com