I rant about this every once in awhile. It doesn't do much good, but it feels good to spew frustration into the wind in hopes it will land somewhere and fertilize some ground like so much volcano ash. Maybe something will someday take root and possibly grow. But I doubt it.
Good friend and tech blogger James Kendrick delivered a pretty good post about his recent experience in trying to cancel his Verizon contract. JK was upset at the "lies" he was being told as the Verizon store employees were going through their scripted and probably improvised responses to keep him on board. He finally got his contract cancelled but you can tell from his post that he's got a bad taste in his mouth. JK did as he often does, he blogged the experience, and I'm sure somewhere in Verizon's management structure the event and the post is going to cause some headaches come Monday morning. There will be a response and it will all go away even as some PR campaign will be started to prove that Verizon has mended its ways.
I'm using JK's experiences here as just another example of the Culture of Lying we're all becoming way to accustomed to, way to callous about, and, in my view, way too accommodating in our acceptance.
It doesn't just happen with big corporations, it happens with our politics, it happens in our media, it's happening in our religious institutions, and goodness knows it happens on blogs and the Internet all over the place. The warped thing is that just about everybody, (except those who don't pay attention or choose not to) see through the lies and obfuscation.
We've actually evolved within the Culture of Lying where we reward those who do a good job of it and when they succeed hold them up on pedestals worshipping them as good business leaders, good politicians, good marketing mavens. Fortunes are made, careers are propelled, and institutions are enshrined.
Successes become case studies for those who follow and that of course just perpetuates the problem.
Sure, you can argue that this is the way of the world and has been since humans started interacting. But at the same time as we teach our children that lying is wrong and immoral. We send them out into a world that is built on lying. I'm never sure if that disconnect is an intentional aim to make sure we have at least some dupes out there who are receptive to the lying, or if it is just a naive attempt at something better.
So, who are the real liars here? Those who do the lying, or those who perpetuate the pretense that we should all strive for telling the truth? I'm not sure anymore which is more hurtful.
Thoughts?
