Well, hello there, my dear and fellow zombie. I am so glad you chose to join us once again.
When Nicole emailed me the theme to this issue of Synergy, I was reminded of a quote I once read. I can’t recall if it was Oscar Wilde or that girl on “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” but one of them said, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
Geez Louise, was he (or she) ever right.
The truth is ugly, pretty, sleek, plodding, crazy, rational, elusive, all pervasive. In short, the truth is as confusing as my wife’s absolute need for a billion and a half pairs of shoes.
Yes, the truth is many things, but one thing remains constant. The truth is always out there, and I’m not talking about X-Files lore. Sir Winston Churchill (or was it Charlie Sheen?) once said, ‘Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.’
That’s an amusing notion, and it’s also very true. So why are we so afraid of something as beautiful and as right as the truth?
Let’s look at our politicians for example. (And yes, you are correct, my fellow zombie, I am never above grabbing the low hanging fruit.) Our politicians have people called ‘spin doctors’, who are much more than a 1990’s one-hit wonder rock ‘n’ roll band. These so-called doctors ‘spin’ the truth (or the truth’s mortal, ever long enemy, the lie) into something more palpable for us navel-gazing zombies. They do this because once we hear something we halfway like (or don’t detest with every fibre of our beings) we ditch the revolution ideas germinating in our minds and go back to inspecting our belly buttons.
All this raises an interesting question, though. What is more wrong? The falsehoods that are told or the ears that are willing to believe them?
(Hmmm, on second thought, we don’t have enough space here to tackle that one. Feel free to ponder away at that one, though, my fellow zombie. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.)
Let’s move on from politicians. Please.
If this whole truth thing isn’t confounding enough, let’s look at our reaction when the truth actually does find us and smacks us in the nether region with all the subtlety of a sledge hammer to the toe. What do we do when faced with the truth? Especially if it’s an unpleasant, foul-smelling one?
That’s right, my fellow zombie, we play that ever-popular game of ‘Let’s Shoot the Messenger.’ For example, if the United Nations (UN) condemns Canada for its treatment of First Nations people, the UN finds itself under a blistering attack by our lovely leaders. If someone points out the absurdity and the danger of building a pipeline to transport toxic black goo through pristine, environmentally sensitive areas, that person is branded a left wing eco-zealot. If a group of workers stand united and together for safer working conditions and fair wages, they are nothing more than lazy union workers.
Why does all this happen? Isn’t the truth the one thing we all claim to be searching for? Was Jack Nicholson’s character right when he declared “You can’t handle the truth”?
Wow, this thing called the truth IS confusing. I see the bottom of the page rapidly approaching, so I’ll wrap this up.
Bottom line, my fellow zombie, is that the truth is never wrong, the truth is always glorious, and the truth is always simple. As Mark Twain once said, if you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.
It doesn’t get much simpler than that, does it?
Humanity Man lives on this wondrous planet we call Earth. He likes peace, love, and the truth. He dislikes war, hate, and dishonesty. Any comments, ideas, etc. can be forwarded to him through this magazine.