Honest – It’s True

“I give you my word.” Used to be that was good enough, and maybe it still is in many transactions. Typically, we expect, those are face-to-face transactions, the way they all used to be until a century or so ago. “A man’s word is his bond” expressed the respect with which honesty was regarded.
Maybe that was a time when facts could be more easily verified; we wonder if technology has been changing that attitude.
“The traffic was bad.”
“Sure, it’s deductible.”
“Gee, no. I didn’t get your message.”
“If the client calls, tell him I’m not here.”
“My spam filter must have deleted that.”
“Let the machine pick up, and see who it is.”
“Not feeling well — think I’ll have to stay home.”
“No, officer, I wasn’t exceeding the speed limit.”
Now, we realize these are just little lies. But are they dishonest? Well, yes. And do we all say these things? Well, yes.
Our point is that nobody seems particularly bothered by such evasions of the truth. Is anyone concerned that our culture might be eroded when such little deceptions become so commonplace? And do they, altogether, make it easier for some people to put forth big deceptions?
Of course, honesty is still valued today. Reader polls in what used to be called women’s magazines often reveal that people rate honesty among the essential attributes in a prospective mate (perhaps along with a few appearance criteria). Is it because that quality seems more rare today? There are just so many little things cluttering our lives, about which it’s often easier to fib than fess.
We at the Sun value honesty, having adopted as our motto, and editorial criteria: Warmth. Light. Truth. We do see hopeful signs, suggesting that society has not, at its core, lost its conscience. Consider the huge success of eBay. Thousands of deals happening with no one ever looking his trading partner in the eye. Even before Paypal offered secure, third-party payment options, people conducted business successfully. In fact, we’ve even purchased several motor vehicles on line, paying for them sight unseen and fully trusting that they would arrive in their advertised condition.
There are many people trading on the INternet now, without cash. Is that a gesture back to the good old days? The old days were probably not as good as one might think. These are certainly better days, and people, in our experience, are still basically honest. Really.