Honesty

The principle of honesty says that one must refuse to fake reality - to pretend that the facts are not what they are. It is loyalty to reality and rationality, and requires that one live by the ideas he accepts as true - to mean what he says.

However, as with all moral principles, honesty is an absolute in a specific context: it is a guide to action that applies within a specific set of conditions. It is a guide to life-sustaining actions; thus one cannot be expected to act for his own destruction or to cause harm to others. And such actions, in turn, must have reference back to the principle; i.e. the principle must always be upheld.

Thus, to be honest is to fully obey the principle within the relevant context. Virtues are broad abstractions, not concrete-bound rules or commandments.

That is why lying, generally a form of dishonesty, is not necessarily immoral. But the conditions that can make it moral are not subjectively determined - without reference to the principle. Thus, it is immoral to lie in order to gain a value, but not to preserve one.

An example of “preservation” is lying to prevent a criminal from harming you or someone you value. One’s virtue should never become a means to serving the ends of evil.

It is moral to lie to government to protect one’s rights.

It is moral to withhold information from someone - even a loved one - if such information would prove harmful to him; or due to age is better provided at a later time for his own well-being.

Such examples may seem like, but should not be confused with, “white lies.” The latter is defined subjectively as a minor or unimportant lie, without regard for the principle of honesty.
But it does follow that when lying morally, one is not actually being dishonest - faking reality or relying on an irrational principle. He is acting for the good: for the good of himself, of the person to whom he is lying, and of the honesty principle itself.

Obama The Lyin’-Hearted

It is not unusual for a Presidential candidate to “stretch the truth” to get elected. But to consistently lie before and after being elected is rare; and Obama is the most guilty. 

Obama’s morality is as explained in the second half of “Linking Politics to Morality” (in this blog). His statist ideology is the result. And dishonesty is just one of the many vices of one who so rejects reason and rationality in his life. A lie is a knowingly false statement made with the intent to deceive. Given the chronic nature of his lying, one can only assume that he believes his ends always justify his means.

The following is a collection of many of his lies. You need to decide when enough is enough! 

·      Economy

    Financial bailout: he did not want any, but then he said that the one he approved was critical to save our economy. It ended up being a scan - the panic was false, and it became a means to control banks and other industries and to create a stimulus package to help special interests. 

    Trade: he said he supports free trade. Then he fights it; e.g. anti-Nafta, tariffs on Chinese products to appease labor unions, “buy American” legislation and restrictions where countries fail to restrict CO2 emissions - all without regard for retributions. 

    Taxes: he said no new taxes on the middle class. Then he pushes programs (e.g. HC with mandated insurance) that clearly will tax them. He said he just wants to increase taxes on millionaires, but his proposals actual do so for all families with income over $250k. 

    He criticized millionaires and corporations for their use of corporate jets; yet he knows that his own stimulus plan included a tax break that incented them to buy more jets. He recently proposed removing the tax break as “it will only take from people who are doing extremely well”; but he knows that the middle-class and pension funds will be hurt as the stocks of companies making those jets fall. 

    He said that 80% of the people want his budget plan with tax increases, yet he knows that the polls show that is closer to 30%. And he said he wants to cut the deficit but shows no desire to do so. 

    Shovel-ready projects: his stimulus was supposed to have immediate effect, e.g. with construction projects; yet he knew that with today’s environmental regulations and bureaucracy, such projects would not be ready for the shovel. 

    Green jobs: he pushes hard for growth in such jobs. Yet he knows that government does not create wealth; that it can only take wealth and jobs from the private sector and replace that with government jobs that are not productive ones that actually help the economy; and that “green” is merely a talking point. 

    Wealth redistribution: he uses any excuse and program to achieve this broad goal. E.g. “need” for services, environmentalism based solely on emotion. 

    Being consistent with that goal, he said there would be no congressional salary increases (7/11); but said salaries increased an average of 8%. 

    He said that he would never “pull the plug on Grandma.” Then he said that if the debt ceiling is not raised, then he cannot guarantee that seniors will receive their social security checks. Yet he knows that most of the SSA outlay is covered by current FICA taxes and that those checks are most certainly guaranteed. (And that program is not even an entitlement: it is our money in a government ponzi scheme that he is threatening to withhold!)   

    He said that the U.S. could default on our debts causing a global financial crisis; yet he knows that essential debts would be covered and there would be no serious repercussions. 

·      Education

    He asked children to work hard to achieve their goals in life as independent beings; and he plans on helping them along the way with subsidized education. But he purposely fails to tell them that his aim is to make them more dependent on govt. and that their success should be shared by all. 

·      Energy

    Global Warming: he says the evidence of man-caused warming is indisputable and the debate is closed. But he knows that there is no evidence of any warming due to man and that, in fact, the temperature warming (1% in a century) ended a decade ago. 

    Cap and Trade: based on the GW myth, he has wanted legislation to force drastic change in the use of energy. He says it will be good for our economy and for the planet. But he knows that such legislation is designed to make energy so expensive that Americans will use less of it and be forced to use more of the less efficient alternative energy sources, thus bad for the economy. Many new taxes are to be added to force said use. 

·      Foreign Policy

Israel: he said he fully supports Israel in Middle East conflicts.

But he has pressured them to stop all settlement growth until they negotiate a Palestinian State, knowing full well that the Palestinians will never yield to Israel’s rational conditions. He is even supporting training of Palestinians to enable them to fight Israel more effectively in case the latter does not succumb to the pressure. He also knows that with decades of violence, the Palestinians could not possibly be able to live with a peace accord. 

Another Obama condition for peace is a return to pre-war, dangerous boundaries. He speaks for freedom without acknowledging that Israel represents the only example of freedom in the ME. He is merely contributing to the belief that Israel is the cause of Muslim poverty; and he evades the fact that our survival as a free nation is dependent on the moral strength of Israel and capitalist values in general. 

Iran: he said he would not tolerate a nuclear Iran.

He has since been passive with them and knows Iran will not consider changing its nuclear ambitions - especially given his own weakness. It is also false when he argues that negotiations with Iran would be enhanced if Israel yielded to Palestinian demands. He knows Iran is the greatest beneficiary of such U.S. concessions; and he is simply diverting attention from his unwillingness to deal with Iran while making Israel the eventual fall guy when Iran becomes a nuclear power. All while knowing full well of the serious dangers of the latter scenario. 

Eastern Europe: he said he would support countries against Russian dominance.

Then he decides to withdraw long-term plans for a missile defense system in the area - at the pleasure of Russia and Iran. 

At the same time, he says we will build a “defense umbrella” in the Middle East if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon - which he knows would then be too late. 

Iraq and Afghanistan: he said he would pull out of Iraq immediately, but he has remained there longer than planned by Bush. His goal was only to defeat Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, but he has escalated a larger war there against the Taliban with virtually the same Iraq goals for which he criticized Bush. And he knows that it is virtually impossible to succeed in achieving such goals there. 

These lies are merely to gain international acceptance. And to give hope for peace - despite it being impossible - which will likely prolong further violence.

·      Health Care

He said that he wanted to fix our HC system, not control our HC. But he pushed for a single-payer plan which is total government control, and he accepted a public option which he says does not imply any control.

    He said that his plan will not add to the deficit or tax the middle class.

    He said Medicare benefits will not be cut.

    He denied that there is end-of-life planning in the proposed bill.

    He said the proposed plan did not cover illegals.

    He says we will keep our doctors and control all aspects of our care.

    He vilifies insurance companies knowing that it is government restrictions imposed on them that create concerns about cancelled policies et al, not the companies themselves.

    He says he will fight all special interests in this area, but supports the greatest special interest of all - the tort bar.

He understands causes and effects; he simply believes that his agenda justifies any such deceptions. He even lied about multiple HC cases in order to strengthen his case for ObamaCare - including that of his mother who was taken care of quite fine by our HC system.

·      Individual Rights

    Free speech: he says it is certainly a right and he supports the Constitution; then he supports laws that restrict talk radio, internet communications and “hate speech.”

    Guns: he likewise violates the 2^nd amendment when agreeing to gun and ammunition restrictions. 

·      Personal Relationships

Acorn: he denied working with them, denied their illegal activities, and denied government was supporting the organization. Yet he linked himself closely with SEIU which is closely linked to Acorn.

Rod Blagojevich: Obama denied having any connection with the former Illinois governor who tried to sell the Obama seat in congress.

Rev. Wright: he denied knowing the Rev.’s radical views. 

Read “Radical-in-Chief” (Kurtz) if you have any doubt about his lies regarding other relationships.

·      Special Interests

    He promised no favors to special interests.

    Then he put Lobbyists in high positions; many organizations were promised stimulus money in exchange for favors (e.g. supporting his HC plan).

   

·       Regulations

He said that his administration is the only one that has conducted a significant review of regulations. But Gore noted that it was done in 1999. He said cost of regulations under him was less than under Bush; but, in fact, his in 2 years equaled Bushes in the first 6 years.

·       Trade

In support of a trade deal with S. Korea, he claimed that they export a lot of cars to the U.S. but we don’t export cars to them. Yet just in the first 4 months of 2011, we exported $141M worth of cars to S. Korea. 

·       Welfare

He acknowledges that welfare programs can encourage dependency and discourage working. Yet he talks as though our current system does not do that - where all but 1 of 70 programs don’t even require able-bodied recipients to look for work. And he fights against reducing benefits.

Obama’s arrogance adds to this problem: he feels superior and is intolerant of others’ views; he has apparently concluded that the public is too dumb to figure out his schemes and that he must pursue his goals at all cost. And only an extremely biased media would allow him to continue in this manner - to deceive the public so badly. 

We cannot afford such a statist in this country - a country that was founded on capitalist principles of freedom and individual rights. We cannot afford to let this immoral president continue in office beyond 2012.

Linking Politics to Morality

There is a hierarchy of concepts in philosophy: from metaphysics to epistemology to morality to politics. Let’s look at some important linkages between concepts to arrive at an acceptable political system.

Reason is a critical first value for man: it is his only means of acquiring knowledge and truth. Since man has a volitional consciousness - free will, he must use reason to abstract and form concepts, and to base his conclusions on available facts. And that provides the only means to make proper choices and take proper actions for his survival.

Morality is a code of values that guides man’s choices and actions; it only pertains to those actions open to his choice. Its purpose is to enhance his life - to enable him to be virtuous and happy. It should be clear why man needs such a code; but what code should he follow?

One must begin with some standard of value by which one judges good from bad/evil. Given the above, that must be life itself: that which is proper to the life of a rational being is the good, and that which opposes or destroys it is the evil. Actions are required to gain and keep one’s values and sustain and enhance the good in life. The following virtues define those actions.

Man’s essential characteristic is his rational faculty. Rationality is the recognition of reason (as described above) and that nothing can alter the truth dictated by reality and reason. It must be man’s most fundamental virtue, the source of all of the following virtues.

·         Independence: accepting responsibility for forming one’s own judgments and never subordinating one’s mind to another’s.

·         Integrity: acting in accordance with one’s convictions and values, to rational principles; never sacrificing the latter to the opinions or wishes of others.

·         Honesty: loyalty to reality and rationality; never practicing deceit or evasion. It requires living by any idea you accept as true; mean what you say.

·         Justice: never seeking or granting the unearned or undeserved. To judge and be judged based on all factual evidence available; i.e. objective judgment.

·         Productiveness: pursuit of purpose and the use of one’s mind to sustain life through productive work and the achievement of one’s goals. This is highly correlated with reward.

·         Pride: recognizing oneself as his highest value, having earned it, by striving for moral perfection – consistently practicing all virtues. This correlates with strength of character.

This is a pro-life, pro-individual morality of rational self-interest. The result is happiness - one’s end goal in life; and self-esteem - living up to one’s values and strength of character.

“Rights”, a moral concept, are inherent in man’s need to survive. They necessarily pertain only to individual actions. And based on this morality, force can never be initiated in violation of rights.

This moral foundation dictates the only proper function of government: to protect individual rights. And we should be thankful that our original political system - called Capitalism - was based on that belief and enabled America to become the freest and most productive society in history.

Any rejection of reason is an escape from the responsibility of rational thought. The result is inappropriate choices, actions and conclusions. Emotionalism, not rationality, will be one's guiding virtue and other virtues will be compromised or negated.

·         Dependence and Obedience replace Independence: not accepting responsibility for oneself and relying on others for one’s survival.   

·         Compromise replaces Integrity: Loyalty to one’s subjective whims leads to sacrificing one’s convictions/principles to others. In any collaboration between two men holding different basic principles, the more irrational one wins.

·         Dishonesty replaces Honesty: failing to adhere to reality and to live by what you say.

·         Mercy replaces Justice: unearned forgiveness, subjective judgment. (Don’t confuse this with being charitable or caring for others.)

·         Unproductiveness replaces Productiveness: lacking purpose and desire to achieve one’s goals.

·         Humility replaces Pride: having a relatively low assessment of self/self-esteem/self-respect; contentment with one’s moral flaws. (Don’t confuse this with merely recognizing one’s failings.)

 

This is anti-life. The standard of value becomes subjective, leaving one with no guiding principles and with a morality of sacrifice and irrationality. It sacrifices higher values to lower values, ability to inability, achievement and wealth to need, a love of life to envy, self-esteem to self-denial, and happiness to duty. It is a code for the unearned and undeserved.

As need trumps life as a standard, the theory of rights begins to self-destruct: rights are replaced with arbitrary government “privileges”, and policies based on ‘sacrificing to need’ make the pursuit of individual rights a virtual crime. Conflict becomes the norm as one is given the “right” to infringe others’ rights. Life is necessarily sacrificed by force.

The resulting political system is necessarily some form of statism. Included is:

·         Arbitrary government control of at least some aspects of our economy and our actions.

·         Lack of adherence to our constitution and the DOI.

·         Failure to truly protect our rights. E.g., bending to special interests, cronyism, collectivism over individualism - concern for the unidentifiable “public good” at the expense of the individual.

·         Egalitarianism: economic equality with need trumping justice. This is used to justify redistribution of wealth, ignoring the distinction between the earned and unearned.

·         Multiculturalism: a belief that all cultures are inherently equal, regardless of their moral flaws. It fosters an anti-American bias even in favor of cultures determined to destroy us. It attempts to negate America’s exceptionalism.

·         Talking points (emotional assertions) replacing the truth.

 
Capitalism (as in the beginning) is clearly the superior, and only moral, political system. And placing a high value on individual life, it will always be the most benevolent system. The primary reason for our long-term trend toward statism is that statists and others who have abandoned reason have only recently faced rational moral opposition (previous issue). Moral truth is key; and let’s hope Gandhi was right: “the way of truth has always won.”