William Sharp: Diogenes in Searth of an Honest Man
(18th-19th century)

"Those who in live in opposition to truth end up with what they deserve."

Truth need not be absolute to prove useful. It might be essential that we not get altogether too tangled up in absolutes if we expect to live in this relative universe. Still, the difference between truthiness and falseness seems clear enough under most circumstances. The old Superman aphorism “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” imprinted itself on many in my generation. We came to believe it was downright un-American to deal in untruths and injustice, equating those with our foes’ tactics. In practice, living lies provides faulty foundations, whatever the means employed or the ends pursued. Lies work like phony geometry, for they unreliably characterize level, parallel, and angle. They demand much more maintenance than even the most complicated truths, and ultimately require some form of authoritarian enforcement in order to stand. They cannot ever stand on their own.

Eventually, the castles constructed out of lies must crumble. No force known to exist in this universe can reverse this inexorable tendency. In the short run, entire cities can be constructed, necessarily with dizzying immediacy. Bedrock might even seem to bend in their presence, though it actually doesn’t. Lies are at root illusions, utterly dependent upon clever omissions and the Decency its victims insist is necessary for them to live congruently. Philistines do not observe such rituals. They do not wash their hands in reverence before meals, leaving themselves open to otherwise preventable infections. The Decent possess little natural defence against dedicated deception. They seem more willing to take others at something resembling face value. They don’t double-count their change, making them more likely not to immediately notice when they’ve been shortchanged.

One of the curses Decency provides includes perhaps its most prominent blessing. Decency does not live suspicious of others’ intentions, believing that generous expectations and interpretations serve as their own reward. Decency must seem like a rube to those for whom ends always justify every means. Decency eventually wonders after the purpose. Why would anyone choose to use such crooked geometry when everybody should already know it produces only short-term useful results? The answer to this question must be irrelevant if only because answering it wouldn’t likely advance anybody any closer to any Truth. In a world employing crooked geometry, everything eventually seems crooked.

I am slandered daily. Depending upon the mood of anyone representing this administration, I am at best an enemy within. I might be Antifa. I must hate this country because I’m not Christian, never before considered sin in a nation founded on the idea of diversity being its strength. It doesn’t matter what I haven’t done; I become a convenient cause for even the most imaginary effect. This administration is scrupulous only when it comes to maintaining its fictions. The resulting house of cards grows ever more precarious. It will crumble. It’s not even interesting to wonder how. Piled ever higher and deeper, the BS factor alone dooms its future. Gravity will ultimately bring the whole edifice down. Then we’ll discover it possessed no substance: front with no backbone, hat without cattle, not even qualifying as fiction. Those who live in opposition to truth end up with what they deserve.

©2025 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #Decency, #PureSchmaltz