New Year's Resolution to Clear the World of its Crap

New Years is behind us like a dust screened light up the way after a mine tunnel collapse and we are turning out thoughts toward what the heck we can do to make this New Year unlike last one.

Seriously ... unless you have been in your job for years, with a steady cost of living increase and 95 percent certainty that your next check will come as scheduled, this has been a scary year. Consequently, I have been wracking what is left of my brain to decide what I can do in 2012 to alter my part of the collasal entropic malestrom that threatens all normal existence on this biosphere, whatever that means. 

I found it. I am not going to lie anymore. I am done with outright falsehoods (and I have rarely brandished these consciously) but I am also done with all forms of fact grooming, truth warping, posi-speak, in a word, with ego spin. I am 57 and a month old and I am tired of curving my pitch.

I don't fancy myself as a "liar," so this move is not made, so much with the intent of improving my own ethical standing (of course none of us pay much attention to the degree of our spin). Rather, it strikes me again and again that the planet has moved to a operational paradigm in which lies are traded like bread, slathered with more lies, and pushed across the table to us from every conceivable source. I want to counter the "Great Lie," to give a name to this paradigm, with my own little crumbs of truth. 

So, to come clean, first of all, when I said I wo'nt lie anymore, that was meant as a mission statement, not a truth. OK.

Now ... here are a sprinkling of lies I have heard, chunks off the Great Lie, and spins and weird statements or actions that are standing waist deep in a green steamy pool of mendacity:

The North Korean dictator lets two million of his citizens die from starvation and then is not only mourned (were the two million mourned?) but will be succeeded by his inexperienced son. This is complete madness. 

Anytime that any politician, left, right or dead in the middle, says he has the well being of the normal citizens at heart, the middle class, lower class, etc. — the workers ... whatever — incredibly torqued statement. The only reason we are listened to at all if for votes. That is a fact, jack. If anyone thinks that the speeches are not 90 spin, tortured stats and rootless promises anymore, they should stand outside a food bank this year and watch who is pulling up for some canned sphagetti. It's a new crop of customers.

Corporations, whenever they open their mouths. This means all advertising of course, but also any statement made by their press agents, skewed corporate reports and what not. Large corporations exist for themselves, and not for all that work for them — for the executives and highest officers. Hence the obscene and dramatically esclating discrepancies between what the execs make and what the workers make. 

Some will say I am cynical. Politicians, corporations are knee jerk villians in many rants. And who cares about Kim Jong II? I am saying, look around. Countries are going bankrupt due to mountains of lies. Europe is dependent on its oil, on Russia and/or Iran. We are dependent on Europe's stability. That means we are dependent upon the good will of the Russians and Iranians who we continue to lambast. We just can't push too hard or they turn off the oil. So we lie. 

Recently a state administration proports to be a friend of education and dramatically cuts funding to public schools, while removing educators right to bargain collectively. They claim to be very concerned about business and the state leads the nation in jobs lost last month.

I am finished. I am going to call a heart a heart. 

Blog in your favorite lie and please, understand this is not a bash this or that forum. Just simple, clearcut b.s. Thanks.