May 2013

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HONESTY, SINCERITY and DUPLICITY

SY SCHECHTMAN

Among the many virtues of the New Testament,the Christian addition to the prior Jewish Hebrewtestament of the of the Books of Moses, and well known prophets from ancient time, now for most gentiles in very high esteem is Saint Paul,previously the Jew, Saul,who had a revelation on his way to persecute the nascent dissentingJewish sect which was insisting that the recent death of Jesus wasan abomination.That Jesus was God’s only son sent to earth to curb the growing unrest in the land, and whilethe Mosaic Code pursuing the Golden Rule of “Do Unto Others as they should Do Unto You”is splendidin itself, Jesus was the true messiah,not only a mere rabbi. But God’s only true son.Among the many Pauline memorableexhortationsand virtuous speeches supporting this was the famoussection in First Corinthians of the of the New Testament is……

When I was a child I spoke as a child ….understood as a child.Now when I became a man I put away childish things.For now we see through a glass darklybut then face to face; Now I know in part;but then I will know even as I am known.

……(That) now abideth faith, hope,and charity;but the greatest of these is charity. Andcharityhas overwhelmingly always been understood as love.

We have gained muchsocial and economic achievement inpersonal relationsand communally, in both the Jewish and Gentilehuman conductcreeds, but there are stillmany times when human conduct seems dubiousindeed. Totalwar casualties in both World Wars ---1914/1918 and1940/45—amounted to well over 200 million. Statistics relating to all the civilian mortality due to these disastrous wars were also mostdeplorable. And yet here we are todaywith over six billionmortal souls on planet Earth,with many living well beyond their economically productive years; in the so called“golden years” ofretirement. But also a classic case of the that dubious slogan ----becareful of what you pray for, because you just may get it! Thatis, someor perhaps many,ofthese golden retirement pension plans are becoming unfunded,as interest rates keep shrinking below projectedlong term estimates. And to many retireesIndeed,today we must rephrase and rethinksome of our essential terminologyandrealistic future financialaspirations. To livewith some degree of the average affluent millionaire,one needs aboutten millionper year; and perhaps more, as we go upthe financial ladder, andthe poorer striving merely less affluent part of the middle class have to take extra vacationtime to keep their necessary place with their comparable“competing”neighbors. A situation we once satirized as “keeping up with the Joneses”And thus be able tocasually name drop andimpress some of these pretentioussites to friends and neighbors. Machu Picchue, or the Leaning Tower of Pisa, any one,or the great Taj Mahal in India?

That’s where the small but durable duplicity role fits insidiously intoplace, with the small but durable credit card, even eagerlyreplaced if lost or stolen! It is duplicitous because it is based on the unique contradiction thatwe can spend and borrowour way onwardandupward and still finance our increasingdebt burden without inducinglarge inflationary pressures. Some vague,perpetual motion technologic miracleprocessthat will be less costly and even more “green”. Notstrangling planet earth with its noxious wastes,as atomic energy threatens to do. But we are still confronted with the almost lethal contradiction that most of the time it is a Ponzi scheme,where money is recirculatedfrom each person to succeeding investors--a la Bernie Madoff lately—with some fictitious profit, until, as new funds dwindle,it is discovered that nothingor very little was produced,and only that the dupednew investor’s moneywas being used to give prior investors their share of theso called “profits”, until at the unhappy ending was some form ofbankruptcyas the only realassets leftwere in foreign banks with non extradition clauses in their trading practices with the UnitedStates. (Madoff,fortunately, was caught due to his own egoistic behindthe scenes bragging about his“cuckolding” of many sophisticatedpeople,who were impatientto invest with “friend Bernie”, whose fraudulentbalance sheets alwaysshowed impressivereturns. Madoff,mostdeservedly,is languishing in prison lifetime;but most probablyin very acceptable penal quarters. But 2 years after his father’s arrestand conviction,Madoff’s eldest son,Mark Madoff, committed suicidein his office.But a sense of “respect” for duplicity still lingers high upin the judiciary,for Madoff’s wife,Ruth,was allowed two and half millionin the approximately 80 million dollarsher husband swindledfrom other gullible investors.

Politics in general,

with our great emphasison free speech, allows—or even encourages ---- a candidate to make extravagant, sweepingclaimsto his most devoted followers,and then has a less demanding posture to moderate groupshe hopes to draw in. Some duplicity is accepted on both sides ---voter, and candidate. And perhaps the press, too,if they want to remain neutral. And accept the mostly healthy dogma of free and unfettered speech, that the defeatedcandidate may remember doggedly with some bitterness after the election,of duplicitous “broken promises”. In reality and except in emergency dilemmas is there true unanimity. We debate and disagree and “make haste slowly.”Butgenerally some compromise and balanceis achieved. Weadmirers of this middle of the roadapproachcall this “enlightened self interest”or more negatively,perhaps, “you scatch my back and I’llscratch yours”. Hitler,in prisonin 1924, wrote derisivelyabout the Jewsand his plans for Gemanconquest. And now the Iranian president Ahmadinajadopenly callsfor thedestructionof Israeland Iranian middle eastern control. More back scratchingor selectiveatomic bombs,with women and children carefully excluded, of course!

Duplicity and spyinggotogether very often. A most famous casewas the Alger Hissstory,an importantofficial in the State Departmentafter World War II,convicted of passing classified informationto the Soviets, which he vehemently denied,and many people believed him. Hiss served prison time---five years. Eventuallycertain Russian records became available which backed up Whitaker Chambers storyaboutthe Hiss spying.Chamberswas a confessed spy given clemency for his own treasonousbehavior,for his full cooperation withHouse UnAmerican Activites Committee (HUAC). His story involves the so called“Pumpkin Papers” a method of secret delivery of spy information;a delightful bit of the light side of our burgeoning folk lore. But not good for Hiss!

But the dense,darker side soon took over again. Mainly with Wisconsin Republican SenatorJosephMcCarthy, from 1947 to 1957.Most of ushave perhaps onlydim memories of the Cold War with the Soviet Union and how “McCarthyism” became a fearful psychotic diseasedenoting too much Communistsupport,even unto more pro Soviet spying because of increasing left leaning sympathy. McCarthywas able to solidifyhis base by blatantly claiming that many of his political foes were weakening our militarystrength by leaking crucial information. Alsohe many lists of prominent actors,writers, and politicianswho were “too left leaning”. And some were black listed,especially some notable Hollywood screen writers. With absolutely no concrete, credible evidence other than gossip.

,Thus forcing the U.S. Army to hire lawyer Joseph Welchto defend against McCarthy’sobtuse and irrelevant questions about disloyalty in the armed forces. Welch’s cry from the heart“Senator, have you no sense of decency? You’ve done enough. You’ve already done enough…..”. This beganthe beginning ofretreat of the viciousnessof McCarthyism. President Eisenhower, too,joined in with not so private remarksabout McCarthy’s almostinquisition like hostility.

Among othervery significant duplicities was Nixon making a statevisit toChinaafter his violent anticommunistrhetoric all his political life.This, of course,was a positive event,perhaps making thisbillion person horde of people more comfortable with the rest of humanity.Offsetting this, however the firm denial that he never was involved in the Watergate burglary attempt,a blatant lie before congress, for which he became the only president ever forced to resign his high office. Duplicity is really an inextricableessence in the vital web of life. We go on, somehow, with as much honesty and sincerity as possible,aware of our various duplicities. But hope still springs eternally, and all those hindering duplicities are grist for our aspiring, persistent, moral path upward. An eternal verity isthat nothing good comes easily, so bring on your duplicities, andwith some effort we will overcome and transcend them!

The agony of birthcauses much suffering,although mortalexistence hasmany attractions to defuse the underlying still problematic surrounding existential, lifetimespace. Butsoothing comfort is afforded at feeding time at mother’s breast.Then thereis television,preschool school, scholasticendeavor,parental guidance or not so benign neglect, all if reasonablysurvived,even if enriching,leaves one at the end with the unhappy payoffofan empty vacuum of purpose with only the exasperating goal of a pain free demiseafter an insipid, dull end of what wasoncea challenginglifetime.

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Our economy is still dependent on consumer spending

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