RD3 Freedom Requires Responsibility, Honesty

I would like to congratulate you, the graduating class of 2010.  I am sure all of you have worked very hard to get here.  I hope that you all feel prepared to go out into the world and participate in our great country.  There is a lot of tension in today’s world.  There is a movement happening and it is calling for information to be exposed.  Many of you are familiar with the “Occupy Wall Street” movement; it has received a lot of support from not only other cities in America, but also other cities around the world.  Many question what the motive is behind this movement, if there is a unified demand.  There are many complaints being voiced.  But I think I see a thread that links them together and also connects the movement with something demanded by America’s founders, a demand for honesty.  [THESIS] I believe that the basis of a working democracy is an involved and educated populace to which honesty from both public officials and its citizens is integral.[THESIS]

We are all familiar with the white lie, we have been taught that it is the socially acceptable thing since youth. (Zak)  It is better to lie than allow a person to feel insulted.  But what happens when a person does something that they know is insulting to a person or persons (like stealing) and then lies about it.  This is no longer socially acceptable.  It seems that a lie that is socially acceptable is one that excuses a person of doing something unsuitable (like buying a bad gift), where a socially unacceptable lie is where a person who has done the unsuitable (like stealing) thing is trying get away with it. I could see how a person of power, like a public figure, would feel like it is the best thing to lie to the public so that no one knows exactly how corrupt or unfair a system, such as the democratic system, really is

Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s founders, is quoted as having said, “Wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government. (Hart)”  Jefferson held that if four basic principles were followed a democracy would work; one of those principles states: “democracy cannot function without wise and honest officials.” (Jewett) We should expect our elected officials to be our eyes and ears in government.  But most Americans are so busy with work and family that they are unable to keep up with all of the details involved in civic matters.  We hope that our elected officials will make decisions that will benefit the majority, that is to say, that will benefit our working democracy.  A democracy is majority rule after all.  Unfortunately, our elected officials are forced into political games in order to gain/maintain power.  These games include catering to lobbyists (the spokesmen of large corporations), catering to their political party (so people in their party will support them back), and other forms of corruption.  We accept this as the business of politics. 

My classmates all seem to agree that honesty is an important code to practice: Simon Lee states, “The main reason why we should be honest is that it is a right thing to do.”  Michael Sabetta says, “Consistent honesty builds strong relationships, whereas deception does just the opposite.”  So how is it that we can feel so strongly about the value of honesty and yet we do nothing when it is an almost accepted fact that our own elected officials are dishonest?  It is extremely hypocritical and deeply damaging of us as a society to not hold our public officials accountable to our society’s value system. 

The economic crises these past few years, which culminated in a bailout for many of the major banks with taxpayer money, as well as Obama’s health care plan being edited and rewritten to accommodate insurance and pharmaceutical companies (Kirkpatrick), has brought attention to the fact that the democratic-republic we live in is not working quite the way it should.  It is expected that a politician or anyone else with power (such as CEOs of large corporations) omit truth, lie, or cover up important facts.  This dishonesty is expected from politicians and that expectation is exactly why we allow it. 

To be fair politicians are not the only ones at fault.  Media constantly commits lies via omission.  Huge corporations run most media, these corporations are involved with many questionable practices.  It is very common for the media to leave out certain parts of a story, or an entire story all together, if it reflects poorly on their owners.  This practice of lying by omission is understandable, but in the end extremely dishonest.  I recently saw an episode of The Rachel Maddow Show where she discusses the lack of income tax paid by some of the wealthiest corporations, she named a half a dozen companies and could have easily left out her show’s owners, GM, but she did not.  The integrity of this act is outstanding. 

It is important for honesty to work both ways.  A populous must educate themselves from all sources available; I am inclined to think of chosen ignorance as a form of lying (in that it prevents one from being honest about a situation, because they do not have all of the facts).  With honesty comes a sense of responsibility.  Both politicians and people must have a way to communicate with one another; availability to hear the truth and to speak the truth is necessary for honesty to happen.  No one needs to tell the truth if there is no place to tell it.  This is why our judicial system is so important.  The courts are a place where honesty is the law.  A person is allowed to remain silent, by taking the fifth, but this is after they are asked directly about something and so omitted piece of information to which it regards is identified and recorded.  I am beginning to see how much more we as a democracy must demand from our public figures.  Perhaps our elected officials should be put before the courts and questioned by the public so we may find out the truth to their dealings.  This way if there was a lie it would be considered perjury, something punishable by law. If we want our society to work we must follow the guidance of its founders, I ask you the graduating class to demand more honesty from yourself and from your public figures. 

Works Cited

Hart, Gary. Restoration of the republic: the Jeffersonian ideal in 21st-century America . NY: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Jewett, Professor Thomas. Jefferson, Education and Franchise. 2011. 01 November 2011 <http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/winter96/jefferson.html>.

Kirkpatrick, David. Lobbyists Fight Last Big Plans To Cut Health Care Costs. 10 October 2009. 1 November 2011 <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/health/policy/11cost.html?scp=9&sq=obama,%20health%20care,%20lobbyists,%20insurance,%20pharmaceutical&st=cse>.

Zak, Dan. "The Truth About Lying." 25 November 2007. Washington Post. 2011 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/21/AR2007112102164.html>.