{"id":3499,"date":"2018-08-06T11:44:04","date_gmt":"2018-08-06T18:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=3499"},"modified":"2019-04-05T12:24:50","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T19:24:50","slug":"is-honesty-a-lost-virtue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2018\/uncategorized\/is-honesty-a-lost-virtue\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Honesty A Lost Virtue?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writers write from life. Fiction needs to be believable or else readers won’t be pulled into the story. Right now, there is more truth in fiction than can be found in the White House. Is honesty a lost virtue?<\/p>\n

I’ve been working on my third novel but it’s been hard to focus with the constant static and fear of what’s happening to America.<\/p>\n

Can We Still Be Friends?<\/h3>\n

The rules of behaviour have shifted dramatically in America. Up until Trump became president, \"honestCanada and the USA enjoyed a friendship for centuries. We’ve been good trade partners, enjoyed similar cultures, taken pride in our democracies, and shared similar values. With the way things are going, I’m not sure if we’ll continue to be friends. I hope we will, but as you know NAFTA is up for review<\/a><\/span><\/strong> and Trump likes tearing up what others before him have negotiated.<\/p>\n

Then and Now<\/h3>\n

I grew up at a time when I looked up to politicians, in Canada and the USA. They were our leaders. We voted them in to represent us. I assumed they would follow the rules of law and decency. Over time, I discovered there were politicians who lied on occasion when it suited them or their party. I accepted this, but I also assumed, that if they were caught in any wrongdoing, they would be turfed out, or at least they would apologize and try to right the wrong they were guilty of. Call me naive.<\/p>\n

We are now living in a very different time. Honesty seems to be a lost virtue. I am appalled by what I read, hear and see daily on TV. We have politicians who lie and deceive in every country, but what is new is the unprecedented number of lies coming out of the President of the United States<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, a democracy the rest of the world has admired.<\/p>\n

\"Honesty

Father, I Cannot Tell A Lie: I Cut The Tree engraving by John C. McRae 1867<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s hard to fathom the direction America has taken. What happened to the America that repeated the George Washington and Cherry Tree myth?<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0As a child, growing up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, I heard this story. It made a good impression.<\/p>\n

One of George Washington’s first biographers, Mason Walke Weems, a minister and bookseller, wanted to show that the president was a man who got to the highest office because of his integrity. It was a value that the author wanted to underline and it worked. The cherry tree myth has endured, because it’s a story that represents how Americans want to see themselves. It’s become an\u00a0 important part of Americans’ cultural heritage.<\/p>\n

Given Today’s Climate, It’s a Story Worth Retelling.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The story of George Washington and the cherry tree is worth retelling in a country that’s now burdened by a constant barrage of lies, misleading statements, and rude behaviour from the White House. Lies that are supported by the Republicans in the House and Senate. Together with the president, they have succeeded in eroding the wonderful reputation that American has held in the world.<\/p>\n

How much longer will the people tolerate a lying president who has allegedly sexually harassed women, insulted allies and opponents, turned a blind eye to racism and bigotry, enlisted the aide of an adversary to win the 2016 election, and now seems be on a path to bring down law and order?<\/p>\n

I can’t believe that those who voted for Trump are pleased to have a dishonest and self-serving president. I believe that those who voted for him wanted a man who would make sure they could provide for their families and get affordable health care. They also wanted to be safe. That’s how they interpreted his promise to make America great again. Though I did think America was great under Obama, Trump succeeded in tarnishing the previous president’s image with his falsehoods. With Trump at the helm, America’s greatness has been diminished with the USA ceding power to both Russia and China.<\/p>\n

The Poor Get Poorer<\/h4>\n

The current president brags that jobs are on the upswing. They were on an upward climb during Obama’s time. Trump brags that the stock market is up. Great, right? Is it a surprise, when corporations get big tax breaks and regulations are stripped away, and big business can do whatever it wants, even if it means polluting the air and water of the land? Stocks have gone up but the country has gone down with debt accumulation and destruction of the environment.<\/p>\n

And why should the have-nots cheer the rise in the stock market? Economists have proven trickle-down economics doesn’t work. It’s not the poor and working class or even the middle class who have money to play in the stock market. Trump, his family, his friends, his business associates and his enablers in government are all benefiting financially. The majority of the people who elected him are not. They may have gotten a small tax break, but it’s one that will faze out in a few years. Many of them even saw their health plans downgraded. That’s unfortunate, as American medical services aren’t cheap. This isn’t what people voted for. It’s all smoke and mirrors. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer in every way.<\/p>\n

And safety? Does America feel safer with Trump? I know I don’t. Not with his previous adolescent provocation of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un or unwillingness to impose additional sanctions on Russia, even though a majority of the House and Senate voted for it. Putin is a bully who invaded Ukraine for political gain.<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>He’s messed with American democracy and he will continue to do so unless he’s stopped.<\/p>\n

What does all of this say about the virtue of honesty?<\/p>\n

May as well take a shovel and bury it under the pile of lies that keeps getting higher day by day.<\/p>\n

Comments are welcomed.<\/h3>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writers write from life. Fiction needs to be believable or else readers won’t be pulled into the story. Right now, there is more truth in fiction than can be found… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[88,1,4],"tags":[378,1013,19,1010,1012,1011,390,593,858,596,913,391,387,1009,5],"class_list":["post-3499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-uncategorized","category-writing","tag-america","tag-cherry-tree-myth","tag-fiction","tag-george-washington","tag-honesty","tag-nafta","tag-obama","tag-putin","tag-republican","tag-russia","tag-trump","tag-truth","tag-ukraine","tag-washington-post","tag-writing-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mcrae-cherry-tree.jpg?fit=550%2C426&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-Ur","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4056,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2019\/writing\/truth-in-political-art-fiction\/","url_meta":{"origin":3499,"position":0},"title":"Truth in Political Art & Fiction","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"27 \u041b\u044e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"With so many attacks on the news media today, political art and fiction can do what news can't. 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