“There is no right way to do something wrong.” — Author Unknown
I am finding it harder and harder to believe in the basic honesty of most people, even though the thought is worrisome and depressing. The news is filled with cheating and dishonesty by people in all walks of life; from students at the prestigious Stuyvesant High School in New York City sending answers via text messages, to a huge fine for the drug maker, GlaxoSmithKline, for the biggest health care fraud in history.
Major banks falsifying interest rates, brokerage houses lying about their profits, insider trading, newspaper owners illegally wiretapping heads of state and royalty, sports figures accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.
Even priests and almost the entire athletics department of a leading college, closing their eyes and refusing to see and report what had to be obvious sexual abuse.
Not forgetting commentators and politicians themselves, who deal in half-truths, changing truths and downright fibs.
Cheating and dishonesty has become so pervasive, it is almost commonplace, and what makes that so worrisome is that pretty soon, we will no longer even find it unusual or shocking.
According to a study from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, creative types tend to be more dishonest because they are better equipped to find ways of being dishonest without losing their self-respect. Equally interesting, the study revealed that MBA students (those seeking an advanced degree in business) cheat more than graduate students from other disciplines.
Michael Douglas’ character, Gordon Gekko, in the movie “Wall Street” put it succinctly when he said, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.”
Of course, there are many reasons for dishonesty.
Sometimes, it is laziness or taking the easy way out. Sometimes, if one has no skills, he or she needs to cheat. In fact, there are some “life coaches” that suggest “fake it till you make it” as a standard operating procedure.
I believe it starts in small but important ways; our acceptance of misleading advertising in both print and on the television, inaccurate labeling of our food products, exaggerated claims for diet aids, cosmetics; the list is endless.
Unless we stop accepting these small lies and half-truths as “normal,” our tolerance for dishonesty gradually increases without our hardly being aware of it.
We must look to ourselves, first and foremost, and be certain we are always striving to act in a completely honest, honorable fashion. Having done so, we need to demand the same of our business associates, the firms we do business with and especially, of our political representatives and leaders.
I can think of no better thought on which to end this column than the words of George Bernard Shaw, who said, “We must make the world honest before we can honestly say to our children that honesty is the best policy.”
Contact Jean Cherni, certified senior adviser for Senior Living Solutions and Pearce Plus, a helpful, full-service program for seniors contemplating a move, at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 15 The Ponds at 101 Hotchkiss Grove, Branford 06405.
