Am l just paranoid, or has deceit become more-generally accepted?

[MannyGoldstein]

Not referring to the good netizens of DU, of course, and not just to these guys...



But it seems to me that lying has become an accepted part of daily life at all levels of society. A couple of days ago, I had a meeting with some folks who lied like crazy. When I pointed out the dissembling, they just kinda shrugged it off. No embarassment.

It got me thinking... it seems like this kind of thing has become a common, accepted occurance. I don't think this was the case a couple of decades ago.

Maybe just my perception?

Thoughts?

[hrmjustin]

1. Humans have their faults.

[Derek V]

2. Has it ever NOT been accepted?

'twas ever thus.

[RKP5637]

3. In my years it was frowned upon and as a serious character flaw, now, it seems to be a badge

of honor.

[Nictuku]

4. I Concur

.... I think it all started with the Bush Regime lying us into war. Most Americans thought something like that could never happen. The President and Vice President would never lie to the People. Not in America. (yeah-right)

[SidDithers]

5. I dunno. Which Manny is making this post?...nt

Sid

[JoePhilly]

9. For the win!

[joshcryer]

12. +1, I thought it was a TWM post.

Extolling the virtues of being two faced.

[Paula Sims]

6. They're just not covering it up anymore

The vast majority of people (not the good people on the DU) have the attention span of a gnat and pretty much the social awareness of one (my apology to gnats). People don't care what they say because few call others out on it, and if you do, you're a troublemaker.

People don't believe in our System anymore nor in their representatives. They all expect them to lie. The reps are just fulfilling the electorate's wishes.

[tularetom]

7. The two aren't mutually exclusive ya know.

Just because you're not paranoid...

[KT2000]

8. Not just you -

It is common now. I believe it was the head of the Business School at Harvard who said some lies are OK.

I often think that I am glad my father is not here to see what our society has become. He was old school - honest and decent. Most people of his generation were. They designed and built products that people could count on and if something went wrong, they felt a personal responsibility. They were good to their word too. Not saying they were perfect but we are far from it now. Trust barely exists anymore.

[Rex]

10. Nope. You are not just paranoid. Remember the BFEE years?

Also I think when you have a mainstream media too lazy to call leaders out, when that lie can cause a huge amount of harm. Why didn't anyone call out the BFEE for 8 years? Why did we have to go to alternative media to get the real news?

I think hate radio has a lot to do with it. Plus it is the American way to worry about appearances first and reality second.

[Fumesucker]

11. Tweedlevil and Tweedleviler

That pair would scare the bejabbers out of Beria.

[onecaliberal]

14. Not paranoid

We all observe the same thing.

[LiberalLoner]

15. +1, and not just lying but sociopathy of all forms is seemingly okay now.

[onecaliberal]

16. It's true. Sad, sorry state of affairs.

[Igel]

18. "No shame."

That's what struck me most about high schoolers when I was exposed to them for the first time after a number of years.

Failing classes? Public information.

Making out? Okay as public behavior.

It's not that no kid has shame for doing something bad. It's that more of them have no shame.

"Why did you get called to the office?" And they say, sometimes proud of it but not often embarrassed.
"I cheated on a test."
"I tripped another kid down the stairs."
"I got a (special ed) kid drunk."
"Yeah, I'm pregnant--not sure who the father is, went to a bunch of parties over break, lots of cute guys."
Or even, "Yeah, I'm pregnant. Gonna keep the kid and make my bitch mother raise it because she tried to break up me and my boyfriend."

Few kids feel they have any right to condemn this behavior. There's insufficient peer pressure across group lines to restrain bad behavior, there's only within-group peer pressure to engage in it or refrain from it.

[Nay]

17. I don't think it's just your perception. In the last 4 years of my working life (I

am now blessedly retired), my then-boss lied to his boss about a meeting that I and my then-boss had in his office. Lied straight to me, the boss, and a tableful of coworkers. When the big boss asked if I had any notes on the meeting, I immediately provided copies to him. By that time in my working life I had learned that people like my then-boss existed, but I had not run smack into one yet; I was advised years earlier that, at the corporate level at which I worked, I needed to keep notes on all meetings, keep emails, jot notes at every phone call, etc.

My notes on that meeting saved my job, I'm sure. Was my then-boss censured/fired/forced to apologize/forced to suffer anything at all for his lies? Nope. He later got promoted to his boss' job when his boss retired.

No one showed embarrassment. No one apologized. Everyone acted like nothing happened. I couldn't retire fast enough. I thank god that I was old enough to retire.

[onecaliberal]

20. Sounds like my office. Not my boss but the co workers.

Office manager is insufferable.

[kentuck]

19. The media is a big deception..

I would agree.

[raccoon]

21. To answer: "Am I just Paranoid" -- No.

has deceit become more-generally accepted?

Yes.