Having explored D.I.E. It has occurred to me that the above might prove interesting to examine. But first, of course, it is necessary to add some definition to the initials.
Thus:
L means life in its myriad forms
I means integrity
V means veracity
E means example
Life
Our planet teems with life. Billions of species from bacteria via plants, birds and animals. Bacteria are the most prolific if we are to believe those who study such matters and the most likely to inherit the Earth when all the rest are gone. Busy little blighters are bacteria but little good will it do them when the Sun goes Super Nova in a few billion years time.
Humans, in their hubris, consider themselves the highest form of life but are they right? Hubris is inevitably followed by Nemesis. In terms of ultimate survival they are anything but. That prize must go to humble bacteria. Humans do possess some gifts denied to bacteria and other forms of life. They grew a brain which enabled, in due time, the gift of speech and the ability to manipulate their environment. They learned, over many millennia, the ability to create extended phenotypes to mould the environment to their satisfaction, if not necessarily to that of their fellow occupants of the planet.
Humans can and have done great things to reach the top of the food chain whilst wreaking much harm in the process. They created hunting and farming and weapons with which to feed themselves together with buildings to shelter them from the ever changing climate. They have rendered many species extinct in the process. Given that they have only been around in current form for a few hundred thousand years their progress has been astonishing considering the planet is reckoned to be around 4.5 billion years old.
They have created much that is beautiful and beneficial and much that is not. The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse dog their footsteps.
However mankind was created, by God or evolution, its presence on the planet has not proved wholly beneficial. If in doubt, ask the Dodo.
Integrity
We move on to integrity and search for evidence thereof in the human condition. There is much to see. Selfless acts of courage in preserving life for both friends, family and complete strangers. Honesty in dealings with fellow humans. The care and preservation of assorted species against the depredations of others; the creation of music, the attempts to provide justice, the pursuit of benevolence in the government of others. Much else besides. See examples later.
Similarly there is much evidence of precisely the opposite. Is one able to trust the integrity of politicians, the MSM, “experts”, scientists, soi-disant world leaders, “celebrities” and thespians for instance. Recent evidence alone gives credence to the view that none of the above (bar the honest few) would know integrity if it danced naked in front of them. As the old Chinese has it we certainly live in interesting times.
A general pointer to the possession of integrity is the habit of telling the truth rather than otherwise which brings us neatly on to the next point.
Veracity
Variously defined as conformity to the facts or habitual truthfulness, veracity is a necessary part of effective communication. Without it a person is obviously incapable of forming a useful opinion. Basing one’s views on a subject on a tissue of lies is clearly unhelpful, to say the least.
Where then can we find the veracity which correctly colours our views? An excellent and needful question requiring some considerable thought to answer. As observed above there is consistent doubt surrounding the veracity of statements made by the various types listed. The last few years have amply demonstrated that the facts which have emerged do not support the assorted assertions of those we used to believe were honest and truthful. Such promulgation of palpable untruths is a veritable cancer on society’s cohesion and thus it is proving to be.
It has not quite reached the point of senior politicians insisting black is white so we must all act accordingly but such a point is advancing rapidly.
How then is the population at large to counter the plethora of lies and prevarications to which it has become subjected? For many unfortunately any such activity is unthinkable. Many blindly believe precisely what they are told without question. Many have had any critical faculty bred or “educated” out of them. The populace which questions nothing is easy meat for those who would impose bizarre notions upon them. What to do?
Independent research. Examine opposite views to those pronounced by authority. Announcements by politicians or commentators or “journalists” are not tablets of stone as Ed Miliband discovered.
Those who would command the people have taken to heart the words of Goebbels, the arch propagandist of the Nazi regime. “Say it often, say it loudly and people will believe it is true, no matter how outrageous”
Search out opposing views, investigate, challenge, find the incontrovertible facts, listen carefully and compare statements to your own lived experience.
Example
Let us consider some examples of integrity, some current, some within living memory and some of ages past.
The first and most obvious must be Queen Elizabeth II. I was privileged to experience 70 years of her reign and, on accession, she promised duty to her country and then delivered it. She was the personification of Noblesse Oblige. Her children? Not so much, excluding the Princess Royal who has graced her position.
In politicians, integrity is rarely to be observed. Churchill perhaps who, despite obvious flaws, delivered us from the maw of Nazism. Margaret Thatcher was a Prime Minister of conviction rather than consensus. She delivered her vision for the country and, doubtless, despaired of those who sought to tear it down.
Of the current MPs, very few demonstrate integrity. Perhaps Andrew Bridgen, a man of principle and John Redwood, the Chancellor we should have had should qualify. Charisma lite perhaps but both aspire to the greater good of the country, are dedicated constituency MPs and, in consequence, have been marginalised.
William Pitt the Younger has a place in this pantheon. He fought Napoleon with ultimate success but on the way he introduced Income Tax. A mixed review perhaps.
Lord Denning gave us justice creating new law in the process. Gandhi gave us peaceful, passive resistance albeit at the cost of his own life.
Consider the world today and it is not too difficult to espy those, past or present, with genuine integrity and those who merely profess it. All may demonstrate some, flaws of course, as no human is perfect but those with integrity at least strive to improve the human condition.
If the above, with your own contributions, might be thought the good guys, what of the reverse of the coin? It is hardly necessary to point them out as they stand, egregiously, on the world stage. The self-styled elite and their hangers-on. Those who espouse the concept of the mass destruction of mankind, flaunt their wealth whilst denying its benefits to the common people, consider themselves paragons of virtue and lose no opportunity to display it with maximum ostentation, create myriad false crises and demand total subjection thereto except for themselves thus blatantly ignoring their own precepts.
You know precisely who they are. They litter the planet. They despise the very concept of integrity and impoverish the human condition.
Res Ipsa Loquitur.
Foootsoldier Says… 