So Many Words

We are drowning in a sea of words. TV is radio with pictures. we watch people tallk and get into/out of situations with words. we watch politicians use an endless flood of words. Nobody knows what they said. They are skilled and feeding tidbits to -your- prejudices. This allows them to be for/against any issue at any given time. What they said was ,exactly, what you thought they said. Did they mean it-? Who knows-? I doubt even they know what they said and what they really meant.

When I first went to Washington, I was told "Politics is a conversation that never ends." It's true. They speak about endings, the future, changes and lots of hopeful things. They never set a date when THIS if finished and THAT can begin. Both keep being issues forever.

Straw-man argument or style or rhetoric is when you say "Some have said" or "We all know that this country is not like THAT". This fits your prejudices. There is never any person who actually said it to them or even proposed it. BUT it fits the bias that "Well, somebody could have said it/done it/meant it." Nobody ever pins down the -WHO- of it.

If all relationships ar based on trust; how can we trust anyone who never stands still. a person who keeps talking-? Anyone who talks more and faster when they think you may be catching on is -UNTRUSTWORTHY-. iF YOU CAN'T TRUST SOMEONE, -WHY- Are you granting them any more of your time, energy, confidence, faith, hope or money-?

I remember when a handshake meant something. A man was a man because he kept his word. Those who told lies, said anything at any time were either children or liars and usually a thief.

The world has changed. People are different. Yet, we still need to trust each other to have any society or value in our lives.

I live by the modified version of Caesar's Wife.s Virtue that "Not only must I appear to be trust worthy, I must BE trustworthy"

It places the burden on me and all I meet to be trustworthy. Then we can look hard at whether we think the other's definition of "trustworthy" is similar and just how different are we...

I sometimes wish that more felt this way. Unfortunately, we must have some nasty, ugly, -very public- betrayals and transgressions before the lesson is learned. Society functions best on a 'by exception' basis. we all hold similar values, except here and there or even this person. If we're not similar in our values we simply have no basis for trusting each other. Do we-?