 |
| Diogenes (searching for an honest man) |
presidential elections.
Each side is accusing the other of lying. If even one side is correct about this, then there’s no such thing as nationwide honesty.
If both sides are correct, then worse yet. If
neither side is correct, then truth is still not nationally prevailing.
Why, then, is it so difficult for nations to practice what they preach (honesty being just one of many Commandments that are routinely broken by those who favor the display of all Ten on governmental buildings)?
Perhaps the somewhat-scary phenomenon of groupthink has something to do with it. Although Wikipedia defines “groupthink” as “the mode of thinking that happens when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives” -
a “desire for harmony” may have little to do with it. Group members might instead fear persecution for being too “different” from the “herd” or “mob.”
Ironically, the originator of National Honesty Day was himself a press secretary (a job which often entails putting words into political mouths). This former press secretary, M. Hirsh Goldberg, has also authored many books, among them The Book of Lies: History’s Greatest
Fakes, Frauds, Schemes and Scams
and The Complete Book
of Greed: The Strange and Amazing History of
Human Excess.
Perhaps Diogenes, that Ancient Greek thorn in the side of Athenian groupthink), was right. Perhaps it’s
harder to find an honest man (let alone, nation) than it is to distinguish the bones of emperors from those of
slaves.
Resources
http://www.dbtechno.com/lifestyle/2012/04/30/national-honesty-day-observed-april-30/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes_of_Sinope
No comments:
Post a Comment