Don't be Surprised by Liars and Lies

Everyone has lied. Let's face it, lying is a part of life and always has been. Yet, every time politicians, TV stars, sportsman, or whoever is caught lying people tend to make a big deal out of it. If nothing else, telling the truth all the time can get boring. Many people lie about their jobs and their lives in order for it to seem more interesting not just to others but even more importantly themselves. Is this bad? Society hypocritically would say "yes, this is bad." But why?

Exactly, why is lying always portrayed to be a bad thing. Governments have always lied to their citizens. Priests lie to their congregations. Government institutions lie in order for people not to get upset about tax hikes or whatever. Tax hikes aren't tax hikes! No, they're extra revenue needed for schools. Cities always raise taxes in order to support schools, which just seems silly now seeing as there is almost no point in trying to attend college. You'll never be able to repay your student loans, especially as you won't be able to work in the field that you studied. But colleges and everyone else seems to think that the only way to escape a lifetime of misery and poverty is to get a college degree. Even if you become an indentured servant tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, you'll be an "educated" one.Education being the road to prosperity is no longer true in this country, where an MA is almost as useless as a High School degree.

College graduates are now just like physical laborers of the past. They work in whatever job they can get for hardly any benefits and are let go once they start burning out in order to make room for the next generation of indentured graduate.

Americans are already overworked and underpaid compared the the amount of time and money an average college grad is duped into shelling out over 4, 6, or even 10 years. Vacation times are ridiculous compared to European countries.

The goal of an American "success story" seems to be to work 80 hours a week, buy the latest big screen plasma TV, and take the family out to a mid-priced restaurant every weekend. And once the kids are born you better start putting cash aside for that much vaunted "education", because it'll cost even more in the future if present trends continue.

Now, back to lying. Even animals lie. Take dogs for instance. When they know they have done something wrong many dogs disappear from view and hide somewhere. I consider this a type of lying. People will lie in order to save themselves or others they are close to from getting put on the spot. Lying is a defense mechanism that is normal, thus nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, most people, governments, organizations, companies etc. only express remorse after having been caught lying. It is not remorse concerning the lie, but about having been caught out. But this is not a new observation.

This does not mean that people don't reproach themselves for lying, especially if this is causing harm to someone else. Our consciences are not easy to dupe. The battle with ourselves often leads to anger and or the abuse of substances. No matter how natural lying is, our upbringing still does not allow ourselves to get away with it easily. Of course there are people who can lie without batting an eyelash and not feel any self doubt, but I think most do. That is why lie detector tests are used. We know we are doing something "wrong" when we lie. Our fear of getting caught kicks in our fight or flight reaction, which leads to increased heartbeat, sweating palms, looking away etc.

Again, getting worked up over people being caught lying is pointless. It's only natural, and nothing will change this fact. This is why we have given ourselves the expression "white" lies for so called innocent lies which are harmless. We know that there are various degrees of lying, so let's just accept it. Children lie without even being taught to lie, that's how natural it is.

Now, I understand how people lying to an individual directly (by a spouse, child, coworker etc.) hits closer to home and is actually understandable that people get worked up about it. What I mean is that mass lying has always been around and is not acceptable, but is to be expected. WMD in Iraq was a lie that has caused the deaths of tends of thousands, and Wall Street lying has ruined the lives of millions. Lies are not to be accepted, only expected.