patrick.net

Hello,

I enjoy reading the many posts in this forum and the way each one of us sees things from a slightly different perspective.

This said, here is my radical own.

What is it that is truly driving the behaviors we exhibit on a daily basis which then needs to be looked at, explained and understood?

In every forum I've been in, for over 15 years now on the internet, what amazes me is the yearning by so many, to know the truth about any given thing, but how often it is missed.

I've been witness to too many heated exchanges where one, both or either party could come to an agreement in their debate or argument and what was usually overlooked and forgotten about was the initial topic of conversation and matter of discussion.

What is truth? Truth is absolute, so much so that when one is faced with it, it cannot be denied. When it is spoken, very succintly and accurately, purely... it is accepted by many. Sadly, it is what one does with the truth once it is discovered, admitted or realized.

If they are sociopaths and liars (usually go hand and hand), they will confab a scenario of how it all really went down, taking that truth and running it through a broken filter in their mind, thereby turning it into a lie and then repeating that lie, to themselves and other, until that becomes the supplanted new truth. Then there are the narcissists, in rising numbers now, some healthier than others, but many who are taking pictures of themselves at arms length from many weird 'artistic' angles, 14 to 40 year olds can be found and if not for the distinction of listing what high school or college they went to as well as a few hundred pictures showing their true age (mentally, around 10, physically, just because a woman is a size zero or a two doesn't mean she should wear her daughter's clothes and have her daughter's friends on her own "friend list"), the truth for them seem to be filtered through the facade of a screenname and online identity. For some, (perhaps because they lack physical beauty, financial means or a decent socio-economic status) they will be a bit more reclusive and live their lives through complete alternate realties (like Second Life or World of Warcraft or similar).

But what does this have to do with this forum? Perhaps it doesn't, or maybe it applies to all forums and should be posted everywhere?

With truth, let me ask you this (and you can then apply it to banking, money, whatever)... What comes first, Truth or Action? Do we tend to act upon the truth or do we react and then create truth to support that action? For example:

A man cheats on his girlfriend or wife. He is then caught. Whether it was his intention to cheat or not (that is, did he actively pursue someone or did someone pursue him and before that moment, before he thought he was considered desireable to someone else again, would he have really entertained the thought outside of his private time in the shower in the morning or similar) does he then create a truth to defend what he did OR does it hit him square in the face, gut and heart... that is, does he show true remorse, accountability and sorrow over what the action he just took? Add to this, before he engaged in the act itself, did he consider the consequences of his actions and how they would unravel, some ten or twenty moves out? Was he under any influence beyond his normal level of coping skills (i.e., was he inebriated or even on medication he was allergic to, were there aggrevating or mitigating circumstances which helped reinforce the negative behavior (fight which may have occured with his spouse, maybe a spouse who cheated beforehand and the move was retalitory, a true love in life and an opportunity which once was never taken?))?

I point these things out not to make excuses for the person in this case but as a way of showing you how we, our present society, try to justify and explain our individual truths to one another when in the end, the pure question that needs to be asked and which would have a resounding YES or NO answer to it would be this... "Did you cheat on your spouse... YES or NO?!"

Yet we don't do this in society today. We don't hold ourselves, and others, accountable for one another's actions. It's about integrity and gumption and the stuff REAL men and women were once made of in this world. When a handshake or even a given word meant something. When there were no crossed fingers or alterior motives behind one's actions. When if there was a mistake made and by no way other than realizing that mistakes, accidents and visits from Uncle Murphy DO happen, one could talk to those affected or offended and work it out civilally.

Yes, we have courts and systems, rules and organizations which look to promote and keep things fair for everyone, but many of these systems are contrived and have a bottom line in mind. Many groups and individuals would not be motivated if it was not somehow beneficial to their own bottom line. Corporations and groups who look to reform and better ways often do so because they are forced to or there is a tax break or some other insentive, if not direct profit, in doing so. And as for the law and going through the legal process in order to have a fair day in court? HAH!

We now live in a very litigious society and ideas like the 1st Amendment have been abused to promote anti-social behaviors while other laws are written to keep the little children from fighting on the playground. With no toys to threaten to take away anymore, they threaten with monetary damages which are about the same thing. And even then, if it should go to court, many times, between the time the offense or incident took place and by the time it makes it to court, the truth is SO distorted that it seldom is the truth and it's why many cases lose without concrete evidence... video, fingerprints, etc. and those inanimate objects at the scene of a crime which will not be affected by emotion (and hopefully not tampered with or be deemed inadmissable) that there are more injustices than not in many cases each and everyday.

Where at one time a person may be walking down the street and slip outside on the ice in front of your store front, or similar, running outside, brushing the good person off and offering them a drink of water and place to sit and recover for a moment has now been replaced by fellow citizens not lending a hand and whispering to them, "Stay down, you can sue!" Eck... I'm disgusted.

I could go on and on but I guess I am writing this to say, "Don't be so hard on yourself, no matter what your situation. You are operating in your day to day lives under the duress of a great many lies. As much as you want to know the truth (and think you can handle it) you really cannot. It's not that you lack intelligence or similar, it's simply that your mind doesn't have enough healthy patterns to match up against in recognizing the truth. As our society degrades, future generations will come to believe the truth of their day. Those ultimately who are the change agents who introduce and propagandize such truths... they are the ones who should truly be held accountable for the actions they take and the masses they affect. You might know them as bankers, politicians and the likes. At a higher level, the people they bow to, are the think tanks, the aristicrats and the intelligencia... Again, it's not your fault..."

Jack

#crime