We are living in dangerous times.
It is easy to see the images of people dressed in silly outfits taking over the Capitol and dismiss it as a single moment in time - a momentary breach.
I read somewhere the other day, possibly on a different topic, the question posed “is this the end of something, or the beginning of something?” I smiled. It’s not OR people, it’s AND.
This, as with all things, is the beginning of something AND the end of something.
The question is WHAT is beginning and what is ending?
The TRUTH matters.
One of my biggest concerns with Trump, and I will no longer respect him as “President Trump” since he continuously disrespects the privilege and responsibility of that office, is that the TRUTH has never mattered to him.
His constant creation of new truths - whether it was as an insult, as an innuendo, or simply inaccuracies stated as fact has never slowed him down.
This blog is called “absolute truth”, because in my opinion, at the heart of harmony, at the heart of civility, at the heart of rationality is TRUTH - absolute TRUTH, which I define as the comprehensive reality independent of human bias.
Absolute TRUTH is the basis of rationality and rationality is the basis of civility, and civility is the infrastructure within human beings and human systems that facilitates harmony.
The absolute truth is that when you have 150 million people vote, there is imperfection, there is error, there is fraud. That is reality.
The question at hand though - is not “is there error and fraud”, the questions are '“is it material, is it different than in other instances, is it ONE-sided, is it SIGNIFICANT enough to potentially lead to a different conclusion of the outcome?”
The truth is I don’t know.
And, that is the design of democracy in a civilized society. I TRUST based on rationality.
The “comprehensive” nature of truth is most easily obtained by interviewing many people. As human beings, we are all biased on some level, some more than others. But, when you poll many of us - across a diverse sample set, you can separate truth from bias.
Thousands of people have been working millions of hours to answer these questions.
And, the system has worked.
Those that believe there was meaningful error have done research, compiled arguments, and presented them.
62 out of 63 cases have been formally presented and dismissed by courts across multiple geographies, multiple states, across members of both parties, across courts and higher courts made up of judges representing all ends of the spectrum. Hundreds of other arguments have been made to various and diverse chains of command - and the results are overwhelmingly consistent and aligned.
The conclusion has been reached by the highest court in the land, made up of judges representing both sides, and with a bias toward the side of error as an additional member was added just recently by the party questioning the results… The conclusion has been reached based on all the current arguments and evidence that the error and fraud based on all evidence provided did NOT affect the outcome of the election. The evidence was so weak, in fact, that they didn’t even need to hear the full case. It was that obvious.
The head of the congress who also is from the party that claimed fraud - has come to that rational conclusion.
The vice president who also has significant allegiance to the party that claimed fraud - has come to that rational conclusion.
Yet the leader of the free world, based on no evidence he can present, chooses to convey a different outcome - a fictional conclusion - that he presents as fact.
And, millions of people keep hearing this “version of the truth” played over and over again through various media, through other irrational voices… and it’s the truth “they want to believe”. But WANTING TO BELIEVE in something doesn’t make it true.
Truth is truth. And, while we will never know TRUTH absolutely, society is based on our ability to navigate times with an approximated truth - and democracy has been the most accurate and moral system to approximate that truth, because it puts the power to the people, to the balance of government, and it is designed to control the power of any one individual so that the truth at the end of the day can be ONE.
This is why the damage that Trump has done and is doing to our country and to democracy is so serious and severe… This is why vicerally I cannot support him in any way, and have been concerned about him for so long. It is not because of his policies (as he has had some good ones) or his offensiveness or even his egotistical personality. It is because he doesn’t value truth, he doesn’t respect truth nor understand it’s incredible importance - lying has never slowed him down (do research on his business dealings - research how he destroyed business after business )… He has never valued truth, because truth got in his way.
And, when given the amazing power of the Presidency of the United States, he has leveraged that power, certainly with some good intent, but with his ego being always his guiding light and himself being the most important objective, he has created distrust in the infrastructure, in the design of what truly makes America Great.
He has created distrust in the media. He has created distrust in the judicial system. He has created distrust in rational leaders and rational voices from the opposing side. And, then slowly but steadily he has created distrust in the rational leaders and rational voices from his own side - that started to disagree with his artificial truths. He has created distrust in every aspect of the American system - with one objective - serving himself and his own interests at any cost - because he is the only thing that matters.
I don’t know if it is a sickness - but I do know it’s evil…
possibly with the intention of destruction or possibly the result of wild ignorance about the consequences of creating artificial truths…
The truth matters, and we can never fully define it because the world is constantly in motion.
But, the quest for truth is the quest for joy. The quest for truth is the quest for peace. The quest for truth is the quest for good. The quest for truth is the quest for God or source or whatever you choose to believe. The quest for truth is the quest for freedom.
And, to try to understand truth - you must seek it comprehensively in context - not simply in the confines of what you want to believe.
And, to try to understand truth - you must see it independent of human bias - which we all have, and the simplest way to do that is to LISTEN and observe to the truth that others profess.
And, democracy and the United States have been a model for the possibility of the imperfect human system to rule itself…
And, under the guise of “Make America Great Again” - Trump has insulted, undermined, and chipped away at the foundation of our country… at rationality… at TRUTH.
We cannot dismiss where we are. Sure, all politicians lie - but that’s because all human beings lie. We cannot categorize all human beings, nor all politicians in a single category of truthfulness, nor rationality. And, the roles we play in the country are not all created equal.
“With great power comes great responsibility” - I believe that and with leadership comes a responsibility to represent the rational truth.
The other component is we must deal in the NOW.
Whether other politicians have lied before or will lie in the future is irrelevant.
Where are we RIGHT NOW? What is the best understanding of our collective, rational truth right now?
Is there basis to believe that there was enough error and fraud that the election would have gone the otherway, being professed by any credible body?
or is it the voice of hundreds of reputable, diverse human beings versus the opinion of one?
And, importantly, what are the other truths in play?
How many hundreds of thousands or millions of people right now are struggling right now with the burden of multiple truths - one that they want to believe and one that they don’t?
The damage done by the repetition of lies by Trump presents a clear and present danger to our country.
We are at the brink, probably not of a civil war, but certainly of meaningful and dangerous civil disorder.
It is so ironic that the self defined “patriots” and “saviors” of this country are fighting against the exact thing that created this country and made it great.
We need to break the spell with every conversation.
We need to hold those who use force under the spell accountable.
On the one hand, it is so late in the game, only 5 people died, let’s just let Trump ride it out and get Biden in there to see what he can do - as he is the President-Elect.
On the other hand - the truth matters - and every place that irrationality is not acknowledged and consequences served, allows it to continue to fester and maintain credibility.
I don’t think there is a way through this without greater pain and loss of life.
We are heading into a new world where news won’t just be biased, but where truths will be completely different and separate. Bouncing between Fox and CNN - I see two different worlds. Bouncing between OAN and CNN will amplify those differences.
The divergence and division in America is widening and your voice and your conversations will play a role.
What is starting and what is ending?
Rational, balanced, moral people must continue to try to understand the comprehensive truth…
This is a very dangerous time if we go on believing only what we want to believe…
We need to rebuild trust.
We need to rebuild conversation between opposing views, but with a greater respect for truth…
we must NOT lump all conversations together into a single who is right and who is wrong… we must decide truth from truth and lie from lie.
We must rebuild faith.
We must continue to shine the light on truth - and support it, as imperfectly and accurately as we can possibly define it.
The search for truth is the search for good…
We can no longer dismiss the lies, nor the danger, nor the evil they bring.
truth begets harmony - and harmony begets harmony
lies beget disharmony and disharmony begets disharmony
look where we are…
What do you want this to be the end of?
And, what do you want this to be the beginning of?
The truth matters
and the quest for truth is everything…
in every moment.
Nestor