Why Be Nice?

This post was written two days before the horrors in Paris...

It’s a bit early, or late, for bah humbug, but from the way the year is starting off I can’t help but wonder whether it pays to be nice.  I’ve always felt being called a “nice guy” was an accolade, not a sign of weakness.  But sometimes it can be a burden being nice. Just ask Annamaria.  Not Everett.

So here’s what has me rethinking my philosophy.  I’ve heard the following recently: “Don’t talk about US politics on your blog.  It’s not nice.”  “Don’t talk about Greek politics on your blog. It’s not nice.”  “Don’t talk about anything but murder.  That’s nice.”

Ya gotta be kidding me folks.  I just finished killing off a few folks—including one Michael C. Dillman––but they all deserved to check out in my fictional world.  The question is, if we’re prepared to say a mortal bye-bye to bad guys in fiction, why do we accept the continued political existence of real life bad guys each time they’re up for office?

Perhaps it’s because of the way the stories are told.  For example, if we had a real life narrator objectively putting the facts of our world out there before us, I wonder how we would vote on reelecting those who serve us?   Of course that will never happen.  Au contraire, there are far too many paid to spin the truth (and lies) for profit and political power.  There will never be an honest narrator of our lives—beyond ourselves.

How about our free press?  And I’m talking about objective media. How many of you who actually knew first-hand the details of a story you later read about or viewed, scratched your head in wonder at how far from the actual facts and their true import the reported story had drifted?  That’s not to say the media intentionally misstated events, just that in real life there is no accurate, omniscient narrator, no matter how much our media may like to claim that role.

So, where does that leave us?  Are we to be victims of our own predilections, prejudices, biases, and knee-jerk reactions?  Those who manage public opinion for power and profit sure as hell hope so.  They make careers out of knowing how to mine and exploit those tendencies.

Is there an answer to our dilemma?   If I knew one, I just might have to sell out to the dark side and use what I knew to bring all of you around to my way of thinking—which of course is the only right way to think.

But I don’t know the answer.  One thing I do know is that instinct is not a good measure when it comes to judging candidates, much as I wish it were.  There’s no way to make a decision based upon images crafted by consultants.  Nor based upon how much one sweats before cameras, a practiced smile, a macho gesture, a stammer, a stumble, or a gift of eloquence.  Hearsay is no better from one who met the candidate for a minute or even ten somewhere along the way.  After all, how has trusting your instincts worked out for you so far in picking winners?

I guess that leaves us with only one thing to go on: How have those who ask you to trust them with the future of your nation done in keeping their word along the way?  What have they promised in past campaigns, and how did their promises measure up once they got what they wanted from you? And I’m not talking about the courtesy of flowers or chocolates after the deed is done.

We all know most politicians will say whatever it takes to get and stay elected, but why must we accept such prevarication as inevitable?  Yes, the next ones may be just as big liars, but then vote them out, too.  Let it be known that character counts.  It’s up to the electorate to establish in the minds of the candidates that the electorate has a long memory and will hold them accountable, no matter if they switch parties or labels.  As the old adage goes,  “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

What I’m suggesting is that voters take off their rose-colored, Mister Nice guy glasses, and start taking names and kicking asses.

After all, being sheepish won’t work in these times, because for sheep the future offers only two choices:  Shearing or Slaughter.

Jeff—Saturday