Truth and Consequences

Guest Opinion

My typical morning routine would go like this: drink coffee, scroll through various newsfeeds, and come across a story about a politician lying. You’ve heard plenty of these stories—the vast majority involving either accusations about the politicians lying or politicians accusing the news media of spreading lies by being purveyors of “fake news.”

So imagine my surprise one morning as I read the story about a politician who actually was caught telling the truth. I could hardly believe it. At first I wondered if it was some sort of self-promotion, the kind politicians use on their ubiquitous campaign advertisements. (Honest! Dependable! Trustworthy!)

But the story I read that morning was different. A representative in the Michigan House of Representatives, Angela Witwer, was accused of letting one of her staff hold a baby shower in the Appropriations Committee room of the State Capitol. This was in violation of a rule of the Michigan House that lawmakers cannot use the facilities for personal matters.

Here’s the shocker: Instead of denying that she did it, blaming the opposing party, or claiming she was a victim of fake news, Witwer actually admitted that she was guilty. She was honest and told the truth. Not only did she confess to violating the rules, she offered to reimburse the state for any expenses incurred by the staff member hosting the baby shower.

Witwer’s admission is very rare for a politician. Why? Because the primary goal of a politician is to get elected. Therefore, they are keen to tell voters what they believe voters want to hear rather than telling them what they really believe. Potentially embarrassing details about their personal behaviors or beliefs that are contrary to those of their constituents are most often concealed in a cloak of deception.

Is this as bad as it seems? Believe it or not, some have argued that politicians should lie. The Greek philosopher Plato, for example, wrote in The Republic that the public good required that they lie and that we should be grateful that they do!

The reason politicians get away with lying is basically because it works. Studies have shown that people have a “truth bias,” which is a tendency to believe statements are true rather than false. In addition, statements that are made repeatedly, even if false, have a greater likelihood to be believed no matter how crazy they may seem.

Stephen King put it succinctly when he said, “The trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool.” Throw in the prejudice of voters to believe their respective party line no matter what, and lies often go unchecked and unchallenged.

Lying by a politician is, in some cases, protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution as free speech. Whereas corporate executives can be held accountable and punished for making fraudulent statements, politicians rarely have any such liability. Basically, everyone has a right to their own opinion about religion, politics, etc., even if they know it is false and use it in an attempt to manipulate others.

Politicians are not the only ones that lie: The fact is we all do. If you say you don’t—well—that’s just another lie. Studies show that people admit to lying twice a day. My guess is that the actual number is higher, as most people are not honest when answering surveys about habits, behaviors, or beliefs that they believe are embarrassing or shameful.

We all learn to lie at an early age. Children by the age of three know what behaviors are rewarded and those that are not. We begin to fib early on in an attempt to avoid punishment, shame, and embarrassment. Our siblings always started the fights, the teacher didn’t give us any homework, I did clean my room, etc., etc., etc. After I learned in Catechism class that lying was a sin, I made it a point that when I went to Confession, the last sin I confessed to was lying. I figured that covered everything that I didn’t tell the priest.

We continue to lie as adults. Just a few examples: 40 percent of us are dishonest with our physicians about our diet and lack of exercise; 31 percent of us admit to embellishing our resumes and CVs; 50 percent of us lie on dating apps.

Sometimes we lie to protect others from feeling the imagined pain of our honesty. However, being honest can have the positive consequence of building trust. Increased intimacy often follows. Would you trust your partner, friend, or employer if they never gave you constructive criticism? Our growth is dependent upon receiving honest feedback from others.

So kudos to Representative Witwer for her honesty. We can only hope other politicians will follow in her footsteps. Meanwhile, will the rest of us summon up the courage to be more honest?

Greg Holmes lives and writes in Traverse City.

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