Democracy: Honesty vs. Outcome (Final Draft #3)

Jeremy Hine

April, 6, 2011

Final Draft# 3

Good afternoon, class of 2010; today I would like to speak to you about honesty and democracy. Since the foundation of this country, honesty has been an integral part of this nation’s values, from the story of George Washington’s cherry tree, to the idea of “honest Abe” Lincoln.  Without trust in our government we cannot expect to have a stable and productive society.  Honesty is an important component of trust, and we have to ask ourselves, how honest is our government and how much do we trust it? However, we do also have to ask ourselves, has there ever been a government official who hasn’t been dishonest at some point, either when running for or while in office? I think we can say for the most part, finding a wholly honest politician is like finding the proverbial needle a haystack. [Thesis] When it comes to the relationship between politicians and honesty in our democracy today, we should focus less on their honesty, and more on their accomplishments as politicians and the outcomes of their policies [Thesis].

George Carlin wisely wrote “Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.” So, when in politics is lying acceptable? To answer this question, we need to look at what the role of politics is when it comes to honesty.  George Mckenna a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at City College of New York writes “politics can tempt even its noblest practitioners to tamper with the truth, and here is why: Politics is about action, doing—regulating business, making treaties, raising or lowering taxes, subsidizing, penalizing, enacting this law or that. But truth-telling is saying what is. It is about solid facts, and facts are not malleable (Mckenna).”  Politics is often about forming coalitions with opposing parties or even with those who have differing ideals within one’s own party, so lying can often be a way to bring about necessary agreements. Of course, there is a limit to lying in politics; politicians always run a risk of being caught out in a lie, which may lead to them being removed from office. So we really need to look at what incentivizes our politicians to lie, especially when they run the risk of losing all credibility. The answer lies with what George Mckenna said early; it is not always in a politician’s best interest to tell you the truth when go about their normal functions.

It is important to note that note that a democracy is not like a totalitarian government such as the Nazi’s. When people talk about lying in politics the Nazis are often used as an example of how a people can be hoodwinked into the most atrocious of crimes. However, in a democracy such as our own, politicians tend to use more of a half lie. Due to pluralism, freedom of speech, and the rise of the internet we have a somewhat transparent government where such blatant lying, as that of totalitarian governments of the past, cannot go unnoticed. Unfortunately, today many of us Americans are too oblivious to care what our governments are doing. It may be argued that this is down to blind trust, or apathy, best shown in our dismal voter turnout. Many of us also use the lead up to the War in Iraq as an example of how the government lied to the people about the supposed weapons of mass destruction. Aidan White general secretary for the Federation of International Journalists writes “Even today, in spite of Michael Moore’s film Fahrenheit 9/11, Seymour Hersh’s brilliantly executed expose of torture by US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, and vivid daily reporting revealing that the plight of Iraqis has worsened considerably since the invasion, many Americans cling stubbornly to the view that Saddam was somehow linked to 9/11, that his government was developing new and horrifying nuclear and chemical weapons, and that the invasion was justified in the name of peace and democracy (White).”

Personally, I remember reading about and discussing the lead up to the war with my friends, who are similarly interested in global issues. Our research easily showed us the true intentions of war, such as our dependence on foreign oil, and the spread of globalization in the interest of several multi-national corporations. Never once did I think that weapons of mass destruction posed a threat to the outside world. As a result of this research I protested the invasion of Iraq with my friends and many other like minded people; if only more of my peers had done the same. My classmate Chaz Hirata was sums up this sentiment perfectly when he wrote “As human beings, each of us must decide right from wrong and deal with the consequences of our decisions.”

When we look at the relationship between honesty and democracy we also have to look at our politicians on a personal level.  Politics is a game, and many politicians may say things in the public arena in order to get elected. For example, personally I think that Obama is an atheist but, because it would be impossible for him to get elected if he had stated that belief, he claims to be a Christian although showing little signs of such faith. Another example of this is when politicians flip-flop on certain issues as the times change or as they try and appeal to different political bases. In fact if a politician claims to be honest and to have personal integrity when and opponent does not, that is when you really need to worry about the validity of that politician. 

Clearly lying and dishonesty is an unavoidable part of our democracy.  I encourage you, the class of 2010, to be responsible and diligent when it comes to how we participate in our democracy and what we believe in from our politicians. Instead of wondering how much honesty is in our politics we need to look at the outcomes of what our politicians are doing and what they truly stand for as shown in their actions.

Works Cited

Hirata, Chaz. “Discussion #1.” Online posting. 11 March 2011. Laulima Discussion. 11 March 2011 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201130/page/dce5cccd-f9ac-4ad1-8c6b-6896281bf756]

Mckenna, George. "Lying: Occasional and Organized." The Human Life Review (2008): 7-15.

White, Aidan. "Truth, Honesy and Spin." Democratization (2005): 651-667.

 X   Mar. 3- Intro to Paper #3. Read the Guidelines for Paper #3.
 X   Mar. 7- Complete readings for paper #3 for paper #3.
 X   Mar. 11- Laulima Discussion #1
 X   Mar. 18- Laulima Discussion #2
 X   Spring Recess Mar. 21-25
 X   Apr. 1- Submit RD3 [50 pts] Review the guidelines.
 X   Apr. 4- Submit three RD3 evaluations [50 pts] Review the guidelines.
 X    Apr. 6- Submit FD3 [125 pts] Review the guidelines.