Americans have become less skilled in many ways, but have had a lot of practice in one skill: self deception. We lie to ourselves, constantly. We justify it. Rationalize it. Sometimes we lie, because we think we are benefiting others; sparing their feelings, doing it for their own good. We tell ourselves that we are “better looking” than we actually are… or “worse looking” than we actually are. We think we are better drivers than we really are. We boast to our friends about our relationships with our significant others to portray a happy, fulfilled life, when the reality is that the relationship is hanging by a thread. We pretend to like music and movies, that barely register amusement, only to fit in with the rest of society. We buy things we don’t need to fulfill the happiness void that the advertisement made us feel. We tell ourselves that we are giving people, and urge others to give, yet don’t volunteer our time, money, or resources. We pretend that we have open minds, but look around you: your circle shares your views on most things, share your interests, and they look like you too ( if you are being honest with yourself). We act as if we have such high moral fiber, and that we don’t compromise our morals, but in truth, we do it constantly. Everyday, in fact. We lie because it’s easier, because we are tired,…but it happens more now, because it’s socially acceptable. It’s even contagious. I say all this, not depress people, though I know it’s certainly not uplifting, but to shed some light on reality – and to maybe challenge your own thinking about how honest your are with yourself.
Self-deception is a very broad topic, that somehow finds its way into nearly every part of daily life in America. I’m just going to keep it brief and in one area -In relation to what’s going on in our political landscape: folks lie to themselves into thinking that continuing to expand government programs, and taking more money from the wealthy will solve our problems. Reality: we have been doing this rampantly since the 1970s, and it’s been a total failure. We believe that we will be viewed as cold, callous, closed minded, if we don’t support programs that are being sold as helping minorities, children, or the poor; when the reality is that these programs don’t hold up to their promises, and always – ALWAYS cost more than what the selling amount. In truth, these programs continue to enslave people from getting out of the very situation they’re in, by making them think this is their only option – how’s that for a strategy for staying in power? Kind of like a drug dealer. If we are being honest about the results of wealth re-distribution programs, we’ve been lying to ourselves to soften the blow of system failure. No one likes to be wrong, much less admit it. But the results speak for themselves. We see that major cities affected by riots, shootings, and protests have all been run by a certain party for the mayorship and city councils for decades, and yet things never improve. What’s even more mind boggling is that people have deceived themselves into thinking that more of these policies from this group will solve the problem. They continue to vote the same way, for the same party, even with overwhelming evidence of failure. That’s like saying the cure to cancer is to treat it with more cancer. I love my country. I love the people. But…. Honestly… I’m worried. I’m worried that our self deception, and compromising of our morals has reached a point of no return. There’s simply no other explanation for the candidates we have – just total self-deception and moral compromise. I see the candidates that would be in line for the most powerful position in the world, and all I can think, is that “do we know how badly we are lying to ourselves?”. Even worse… “Do we know the consequences?”.
Andrew L Hamilton 