Fake news, moral relativity, false people

I decided this past week to cancel my digital subscription to a major US newspaper. It doesn’t matter which newspaper for the sake of this post. I cancelled it because I disagreed with their editorial decision on a particular issue. It bothered me that the newspaper caved to public pressure on that issue. And their expectations were that their readers should understand that, but my opinion is that the editorial page should be able to present multiple sides of any issue. However, in 2020 that doesn’t seem to be possible. You have to take one or the other side whether you want to or not or are ready to do so or not. I can’t do it just because someone tells me I have to. I was raised bipartisan and will remain bipartisan. I need to be able to look at all sides of an issue. And frankly, there are often multiple sides to an issue. So being multi-partisan might be the way to go. This doesn’t mean that I don’t take a stand; often I do, but only after reflection and self-questioning (what do I believe or feel or think about this or that issue). I don’t want to be ‘told’ what stand to take, I want to figure things out for myself. That is the result of my parents and my Catholic upbringing. Unfortunately, the current president has done nothing to encourage reflection and bipartisanship.

My point is that it was nearly impossible to cancel my subscription. I got an email from customer service asking me to reconsider, and telling me that they would reduce my subscription cost by 75%. It’s interesting by itself that they automatically assumed that I cancelled because the subscription was too expensive. They also thanked me for being a subscriber and stated that it was due to the support of subscribers like me that allowed them to continue to pursue the truth. They added that the truth was more important now than ever. I agree with the last sentence, and hope that the newspaper really is interested in pursuing the truth. We’re constantly being told that there is a lot of fake news out there. I’m sure that’s the case. None of the media (newspapers, television, or social media) can claim to be the only ones who pursue or know the truth. None of them can claim to ‘own’ the truth. Those who say things like that are those I write off immediately—I’m simply not interested. Up to this point, I thought certain newspapers stood head and shoulders above the rest. Now, I’m not so sure.

The older I get, the more sensitive my bullshit detector gets. My advice to most people—don’t try to put one over on me, pull the wool over my eyes, or coax me over to your side (which is of course ‘the right side’). You’ll regret it. I’ll write you off faster than you can say ‘morally relative’. I have zero patience left for partisan political agendas, fifteen-minute-of-fame agendas, or people who want me to support agendas I don’t believe in—the list is long. I’m not hopping on your bandwagon to promote the newest management philosophy in the workplace, I’m not interested in listening to the same psychobabble week after week, month after month, about this new vision or that new innovation. I don’t care. The old expression ‘put your money where your mouth is’, is the only thing I’m interested in. When management has been told time and again that more employees are needed to solve a particular problem, and management continues to push the ‘relevant’ flavour of the month management philosophy (New Public Management, LEAN, etc.) that we all need to work more effectively with less resources and less people, then management has a big problem. Most of these philosophies are ‘the emperor’s new clothes’ (the emperor is naked, but we’re told to praise his clothes) philosophies. I won’t cede to them. I won’t think positive when the situation in front of me is clearly negative and needs to be acknowledged as such in order for it to be solved. I won’t pretend everything is ok when it’s not. But we’re asked to pretend every day, and it makes me weary. Most of it is fake, and most of it is pure bullshit. But we’re told that it’s not and we’re told to believe that it’s not. We’re told that it’s ok to be direct and honest in the workplace; but it’s not. We’re told to think big and to be innovative; but when we do that, it’s wrong. We’re told to communicate effectively, but when we try to, we find that we cannot write the whole truth; it takes hours to formulate a politically-correct email that won’t offend anyone or step on anyone’s toes (status, position, or territory). My God, it’s boring. Effective communication? No.

This is not life the way I want to live it. I want to live honestly and to not pretend. I want to live according to my ethical and moral principles, not according to someone else’s political agenda at work or in society at large. I don’t want to give up my principles in order to align myself with someone else’s ‘side’. I don’t want to be loyal to people who I know are false. There are many false people who want to drag you into their sphere, those who tempt you with status, money, power, or prestige. Those people who shift their beliefs and thoughts according to the popular flavour of the month philosophy (moral relativity). Those people who lie to your face. Those people whose sole interests in life are fame and fortune, whose greed dominates (and dooms) most relationships.

Perhaps the corona virus pandemic has given me the time to see how society and the workplace really are. I’ve had a chance to do a reality check. What I know is that society needs a re-haul, bigtime. Press the restart button. I’m not sure what we should move toward, but perhaps moving away from fame and fortune, from greed, and more toward a spiritually-oriented life, would be a start and a welcome change.