Integrity

I tend to think of myself as a fairly open minded person,I like new thoughts and ideas and am constantly looking to see whats coming around the corner of time.Even on my worst days when my body and mind are taking a beating from illness's that I can't control, I still try to look on the bright side of things and try to conceive of what the future is going to be like. Well today is not going to be one of those days. To elaborate a bit; I am going to speak on what I believe is happening, not only in our nation but in the entire world and you are going to find that it's fairly simple.

We have become a people that are liars and thieves. We have become a nation of people that would literally sell our grandmothers as slaves if it would help us achieve our goals in our lives, and , even worse, is what we do to total strangers thinking that the end justifies the means that we use. We have become thoroughly corrupt in our thinking and our choices in leadership and what they are doing to us reflect this.

It used to be that honesty and integrity defined a person. People used to keep their word and it was all you needed to sign a deal. Now it's simply to hell with everyone else I am going to get my own by whatever means necessary.

I used to teach a class to younger Marines on honesty and integrity. They had cards that they received in boot camp that they were supposed to carry with them, that gave the "Core Values " of the Marine Corp. I told them point blankly that if honesty and integrity were not all ready in their souls then no stupid card was going to help them remember. It proved out to be true, their were Marines that I could count on always, men and women that I could tell what needed to be done and I knew that it would be done and properly, then there were the ones that would do as little as possible and try to get away with every thing, their time was tough while they worked for me.

But now we have become a people who would rather lie and cheat rather then do the right thing, simply because it is right.

Let me start with a personal story and you will begin to see what I mean.
This house that we are currently living in has issues. We have started the process of removing wall paper and painting, fun things like that and we have started to find a myriad of problems that we never knew existed. The previous owner , who sold the house to us, certainly did, because he is the one who covered them up!He waxed eloquent on the money that he had spent on the roof and furnace and of course the cabinets but used that as a distraction from the real problems. We were all ready troubled with some of the plumbing issues that we discovered after moving in, which we have repaired,but now we have now found everything from holes in the walls to some water damage that was hidden and are discovering that it's going to cost us more then we had planned to fix these things properly, had I seen these hidden problems, I would not have bought the house. But I guess that's the point, the former owner wanted to sell the house but didn't want to do the work that needed to be done. It did not matter to him that this would be passed on to me, he had his goal and he achieved it and now it's going to cost my family and I more to fix these problems properly.
Some of you might be thinking that you should have checked closer, perhaps so, but if the problem is covered up your not going to see it and if the person in question had and ounce of integrity these things would have been pointed out.

So lest any of you think that I am suggesting that I am perfect in this regard, I will state unequivocally that I am not. I can think of times in my life that I was less then honest and my integrity went out the window for self preservation and perhaps even in the future I may stumble and fall into that trap again, but then again I was younger and I would like to think that as we get older in life that we learn and grow up.

But you see the above mentioned problem is symptomatic of a greater problem in our society. We have become a people who lie and cheat to accomplish our goals and this is shown in Hollywood and in Washington.

Hollywood is always showing us movies where the distinction of the bad guys and the good are sometimes a matter of perspective. Both lie and cheat and steal to accomplish their goal, but because one character is considered the good guy we cheer them on no matter what it is that they do.
The Harry Potter series, I have read the books and have seen the movies and I like them, but lets face it ,the kids in those movies go to great lengths to get away with whatever their goal is, and I will grant you that theirs is a battle with the greatest evil known to their world, but still some of what they do I would punish my kids for doing, but again because they are the good guys we over look it and cheer them on.

I also understand that their are times that honesty might get someone killed, as in hiding Jews in Nazi Germany. If you told the truth not only would you die but people who had come to you for shelter would die as well, that , at least in my mind, would be a much greater evil.

Washington D.C. has become so filled with corruption and greed that I find it impossible to believe anything that they say anymore. The only "truth" that they want you to hear and believe is that "truth" that comes from them.
These are people that get away with everything from Perjury to Tax evasion , both of which should land you in jail, and nothing happens to them. Occasionally the will have a committee to review the charges but most of the time it gets swept under the rug and given enough time it is forgotten. If you are in the wrong ( at the moment) political party the press might hound you out of office, but really it rarely happens.

The press that is supposed to be part of the watch dogs of our liberties and freedoms have lost all integrity and honesty and put a spin on everything so that they can influence you to believe what ever it is that has been determined by others that you should believe.

Now I am pointing a finger at a lot of people but I would remind you that I have identified myself as having been a part of the problem at times as well. So how about you? Are you one of those types of people who would lie with a straight face to accomplish your goals? I know "Lie" is such a harsh word, but would you do it? Call it what you will but do you have the integrity and the honesty to state the truth even if that means your goal is not accomplished? Would you do something as simple as returning too much change handed to you at a store , after a purchase? How about lying about your wages on a form knowing that if you don't put down enough or little that you might not get what you want? How about spending money that you really should be using on bills on things that you really don't need? The list could go on. All of it shows a lack of honesty and integrity.

We have thrown out God as a nation and look where it has brought us.Nature abhors a vacuum, so it becomes natural that when G-D and the things of G-D are thrown out of a society, that the things which are against G-D will fill the void. Some want to see a "Progressive" society. Congratulations. What you see is exactly what "Progressive" looks like.

You want to see things change? We as individuals need to become re acquainted with honesty and integrity and the G-D who makes that possible, and then perhaps we will be in a much better position to demand it from our leaders.

As our nation has gone so have the leaders and as the leaders have gone so has the nation.

Semper FI
Ignacio