This I Believe

J here. As some of you may know, I am a huge fan of the
works of Robert A. Heinlein. Along with a pragmatic,
deeply honest, and slightly cynical worldview, his
writings show a deep optimistic belief in humankind.
It's a magnificent combination and often refreshes me
when I find myself slipping too much to one extreme
or the other.

Robert A. Heinlein wrote this item in 1952. His wife,
Virginia Heinlein, chose to read it when she accepted
NASA's Distinguished Public Service Medal on
October 6, 1988, on the Grand Master's behalf
(it was a posthumous award).

Mrs. Heinlein received a standing ovation.

"I am not going to talk about religious beliefs but about matters
so obvious that it has gone out of style to mention them. I
believe in my neighbors. I know their faults, and I know that
their virtues far outweigh their faults. Take Father Michael
down our road a piece. I'm not of his creed, but I know that
goodness and charity and loving-kindness shine in his daily
actions. I believe in Father Mike. If I'm in trouble, I'll go to
him."

"My next-door neighbor is a veterinary doctor. Doc will get out
of bed after a hard day to help a stray cat. No fee--no prospect
of a fee--I believe in Doc."

"I believe in my townspeople. You can know on any door in our
town saying, 'I'm hungry,' and you will be fed. Our town is no
exception. I've found the same ready charity everywhere. But for
the one who says, 'To heck with you - I got mine,' there are a
hundred, a thousand who will say, 'Sure, pal, sit down.'"

"I know that despite all warnings against hitchhikers I can step
up to the highway, thumb for a ride and in a few minutes a car or
a truck will stop and someone will say, 'Climb in Mac - how far
you going?'"

"I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are splashed with
crime yet for every criminal there are 10,000 honest, decent,
kindly men. If it were not so, no child would live to grow up.
Business could not go on from day to day. Decency is not news. It
is buried in the obituaries, but is a force stronger than crime."

"I believe in the patient gallantry of nurses and the tedious
sacrifices of teachers. I believe in the unseen and unending
fight against desperate odds that goes on quietly in almost every
home in the land."

"I believe in the honest craft of workmen. Take a look around
you. There never were enough bosses to check up on all that work.
From Independence Hall to the Grand Coulee Dam, these things
were built level and square by craftsmen who were honest in their
bones."

"I believe that almost all politicians are honest. . .there are
hundreds of politicians, low paid or not paid at all, doing their
level best without thanks or glory to make our system work. If
this were not true we would never have gotten past the 13 colonies."

"I believe in Rodger Young. You and I are free today because of
endless unnamed heroes from Valley Forge to the Yalu River. I
believe in -- I am proud to belong to -- the United States.
Despite shortcomings from lynchings to bad faith in high places,
our nation has had the most decent and kindly internal practices
and foreign policies to be found anywhere in history."

"And finally, I believe in my whole race. Yellow, white, black,
red, brown. In the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability,
and goodness of the overwhelming majority of my brothers and
sisters everywhere on this planet. I am proud to be a human
being. I believe that we have come this far by the skin of our
teeth. That we always make it just by the skin of our teeth, but
that we will always make it. Survive. Endure. I believe that this
hairless embryo with the aching, oversize brain case and the
opposable thumb, this animal barely up from the apes will endure.
Will endure longer than his home planet -- will spread out to the
stars and beyond, carrying with him his honesty and his
insatiable curiosity, his unlimited courage and his noble
essential decency."

"This I believe with all my heart."

This Just In

(I wish I had a screenshot for "AUTO INDUSTRY BANKRUPT!")

Truth and Lies

Greetings. First, I'd like to thank RDub for making me a part of "Internalize Your Demise". Glad to be here, and I hope my assorted ramblings provide some entertainment and some food for thought. Not necessarily in that order.

Where to begin? I'm J. Some of you know me, or think you do - or some combination of those two. I'm an anti-intellectual intellectual. I love technology, but don't own a cellphone. I love many persons, but can't stand people. I'm a professional bad influence, and an unconditional lover. I'm a dilettante and a sensualist. A hopeful cynic. I'm a walking, talking study in duality and tension of opposites. Pleased to meet you, hope you've guessed my name.

Talk, talk, talk ... talk is cheap. But we knew that already, right? Whether we really internalize it or not.

A rich man doesn't have to tell you he is rich. So, if you have to tell me how smart you are, how smart your friends say you are ... well ... it's like your mystique; once you talk about it, you have none.

Everyone knows the famous lies:

1) The check is in the mail.
2) Of course I'll respect you in the morning!
3) I won't come in your mouth.
4) I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you.

I propose adding the following:

5) I'm an excellent judge of character!
6) It's not you, it's me.
7) I'm a maverick!
8) With me, things will change.

Truth and lies ... a slippery proposition. Everyone says they want the truth, right until they get it, in which case they tend to wish they'd never heard it and want to shoot the messenger to boot.

And does truth have much of a place in our society? How many lies did you have to tell to make it through the day today? How many lies are told to us by those in power (government, employers, etc.)?

I propose that lying comes right along with our instant-gratification lifestyle. Tell whatever lie you need to tell to get said authority figure out of your face so you can keep on doing what you'd prefer to be doing, rather than addressing the reality of the situation. Basically, you push the problems back, adding a little interest on to the debt that will eventually come due. And it always comes due. Is the small amount of time you gain worth the snowball effect?

Your word is a precious commodity. Once you break it, it's almost impossible to regain. Once "liar" becomes a part of your reputation, your every word is questioned.

It's one thing to lie to others, but do you lie to yourself?

Do you lie to the ones you love?

I tell my young daughter to be honest with me, because if she lies, I will be acting from incomplete and incorrect information, and therefore, I cannot truly help matters. It's like the ancient GIGO law of computing: "Garbage in, garbage out." In return, I have to meet the same standard of honesty, else I'm a hypocrite and my talk is cheap, and I should not be surprised when she discards what I say and loses respect for me.

I tell myself all the time that there is no such thing as too much information, and that I would rather know the truth and hurt than be blissfully ignorant. I suppose I must remember that there are exceptions to every rule.

Having said all that, are there necessary - even beneficial - lies?


Quote of the Blog: "What are the facts? Again and again and again - what are the FACTS? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what 'the stars foretell,' avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable 'verdict of history' - what are the facts, and to how many decible places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!" - Lazarus Long