"When Truth Mattered"

That was the title of a book review in today's newspaper.  This isn't about the review, but it does play nicely into what I've been thinking about for a while. This also isn't about CoVid-19, although it also plays into my thoughts.

One of the casualties of the past couple of decades or more has been a loss of trust, of confidence, in many of our institutions.  If institutions form the basis, the backbone, of a society, we might be in more trouble that many of us think.  Which of our institutions can be trusted today?

How naturally, it seems, lies or, at the least, distortions flow.  There is no shame in lying or even in getting caught.  Dishonesty is de rigueur, as if some people are proud to be dishonest, not shamed by it.  There's even a euphemism for lying, "misspeaking."  But, of course, that is only used if one is caught in the lie.

I suppose dishonesty has been around forever.  But there used to be a stigma attached to it.  Once upon a time, liars and cheaters might well be ashamed or embarrassed by their dishonesty.  Perhaps I was/am naive.  Overt dishonesty, from lying and cheating to covering up lies, cheating, and other criminal activity seems to be an industry.

Did all this start with Bill Clinton, perhaps not his many dalliances, but his open lying to the American people, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinski?"  When it became apparent he did and that was a lie, he tried to change the definition of "is."  OK, he was impeached, but not removed, acquitted by some of the same politicians who found the other party's defendants automatically guilty.  But what was there really?  Was he embarrassed?  Was there, after maybe some initial shame, any repercussions?  He was in huge demand after leaving office, getting hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars to speak.  And, what are the ramifications of "Hey, if the President can cheat and lie about it with no consequences to speak of why can't I?"

Presidents since have lied, almost as a matter of policy.  Other politicians have followed suit.  Again, maybe his has been going on forever, but the dynamics of lying, cheating, and dishonesty in general have changed.  Does anyone trust politicians?  Does anyone have any confidence that what politicians say/promise is what they really mean? 

What about our media?  Loyal followers CNN, ABC, NPR, and the like are convinced they are getting the truth from these sources, even if proven not to be so.  Likewise, those who watch Fox feel the same way.  Can any thinking person trust any of them?

For decades our schools fabricated how well students were doing.  The penalty was meddling by politicians and corporate-types, leading to the incessant testing, testing, testing.  More and more, educators who seemed to have lost any knowledge of what quality, rigorous education entails, were faced with policies mandated by people who not only know less about education, but also had their own agendas.  Dishonesty came with a price that time.

The list goes on.  Who can trust the Catholic Church which continues to cover up many of its cases involving abusive priests?  Weren't the Boy Scouts also doing the same thing, covering up abuses within its ranks?

I'm sure we'd, at least most of us, would mouth, "Of course truth/honesty matters!"  But do we really believe it?