- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
That's the problem. It is time for the truth to be told and we cannot bring ourselves to tell it.
We can speak the truth until we're blue in the face and drained of our last salty tear. As long as one doesn't mind being excoriated, belittled, harassed and ignored - and that's just from Democrats - voicing unpleasant truths is as worthwhile, and dangerous, as it's always been.
American culture, as dictated by our national religion of Consumerism, is largely monolithic in its lack of intellectual curiosity. We prefer myth to reality, and every institution competing for the money in our pockets and the blood coursing through our veins is more than happy to present that myth as truth. There's big money in myth. Truth, not so much.
Most Americans have no idea such a dichotomy even exists; to the extent they entertain the occasional doubt, precious few are willing to part with the only belief system they have ever known. The American Myth is an old pair of jeans - baby soft, with worn holes and busted seams - that we know we'll never fit into again, yet cannot bring ourselves to discard.
Those who possess some awareness of where myth and truth intersect and diverge are richly rewarded for using that knowledge for material gain. No one is easier to exploit and control than the American man or woman who accepts conventional wisdom at face value. I should know: I'm in advertising.
Conversely, speaking the truth - regardless of how one chooses to deliver it - is more likely to yield social alienation, a conflagration at your next family gathering or a long, long wait for a brand new job that pays half as much as your old one.
Face it: In our society, lying pays. It might even get you a Medal of Honor or a seat in Congress or The White House. At the very least, even for a peon like me, the skilled liar gets the promotion over the skilled worker who feels compelled to tell the truth.
Myth is America's drug of choice. It's a damn hard habit to break.
