Political Column - Deception in Politics
I have been a little surprised at how much people are willing to blatantly lie in politics, even when they know that I know they're lying, and even when I can't figure out how such a lie could benefit them. I think there are five things occurring. One, people lie for personal advantage. Con games, making or taking money, and such. This is what comes to mind for most people when they think about deception in politics. Oddly enough, I've encountered almost none of this. This may happen to politicians more than by politicians. Two, people lie out of resentment in an attempt to enact revenge for real or imagined wrongs, against someone specific or against society and existence in general. This is common and frequent. People will even lie to hurt others when it hurts themselves. Cain is the archetype of this type of resentment, revenge, and deception. This happens both by and to politicians. Three, people lie out of fear. This is sometimes done by omission rather than commission...