Freedom of Speech has certainly gone off the First Amendment ‘rails’ as many public figures seem to confuse embellishing, exaggerating and enhancing with “accuracy” these days. Since most people are not able to navigate the flood of information spewing from all forms of media, there is little risk in saying ANYTHING one wants readers/listeners to believe to be true without much danger of any sort of “verification.”
I have always been a big fan of the Will Rogers line: “I never lie because that way I don’t have to remember anything.” I guess it has become a ‘challenge’ lately for people to be able to test their powers of memory since most people can only see so many “truths’ from a far distance. We have become so accustomed to “virtual reality,” we must be terrified of most any “real reality.” What ever happened to: “the truth will set you free?”
I also like the Confucian line: “you can never step in the same river twice.” I realize that Eastern philosophy is a bit esoteric for we Westerners but in this case, I think it has some meaningful application to what Will Rogers says. Since no time or situation is ever EXACTLY repeated, we must always be prepared to understand/speak our own individual truths at any and all given times. That is really hard because it requires us to give meaningful thought to all life circumstances and to continually ‘update’ knowing ourselves exceedingly well.
For example, if we believe that abortion is “murder,” do the ‘advancements’ in available technology methods really matter? No, and in this instance, one’s truth does NOT change with any flow of time/development of new ‘techniques.’ In a completely opposite scenario, left-leaning, “environmentally-supportive” people were big fans of Elon Musk and his Tesla automobile’s helping to “save the planet.” In current times, Mr. Musk is applying his same genius to DOGE and the problem of Governmental “waste.” Apparently the “river” has flowed to a point where those very same people bomb Tesla Dealerships; burn Tesla Charging Stations; and threaten Musk and his family with bodily harm.
Our current Culture has adopted the: “ask for forgiveness, and NOT permission” mantra and as such, people face veritably no consequences and virtually no shame for this approach. Is this merely a truth ‘loophole’ or the kind of behavior which Will Rogers and other men of integrity would take great issue? I think the proponents of Confucius would argue that one’s truth might be continuously ‘evolving’ with an ever-changing world, (e.g., availability of “birth control” as opposed to “abortion”), as long as it remains honest, genuine and sincere with one’s thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Only each individual can know about his/her self. Others might never be able to know about anyone but themselves and therein, lies the temptation to “deceive.”
Our modern Culture has slowly but surely adopted acceptance of “artificial” solutions in lieu of any real answers to life’s difficult questions. It seems like many people actually believe the “facades” which they project. I abhor anyone “acting” (as opposed to being real) of any kind in all relationships. I never thought that life was supposed to be “easy” (was that not the ‘short-cut’ that the devil was ‘selling?’). It was only through our trials & tribulations that we could comprehend the real purpose of our individual lives.
Did anyone really ever believe that: “he/she who dies with the most ‘toys’ wins?” The ‘toy’ merchants certainly would hope people believe that. I really hope that I am not just being a “grumpy old man” here, rather I would like to think that I am just reminding people of a timeless piece of wisdom which has become ‘buried’ under a mountain of immediate, sensory and addictive temptations. It is definitely much easier to generalize, rationalize and justify those, isn’t it?