War and Myth XIII

The American public tends to reserve its most savage reprisals for politicians who tell it the truth. When candidate George Romney (Mitt’s dad) admitted in 1968 that the Pentagon had lied to him (“brainwashed” was the term he used), his run for the presidency was over.
When Carter spoke some hard truths about energy, he was reduced to an object of public derision. When Mondale pointed out some harsh economic truths in 1984, his candidacy sank without a bubble. George H.W. Bush called Reaganomics “Voodoo economics” and lost to Reagan in the 1980 primaries.
In 1990 he admitted his promise of no new taxes was insupportable and signed the increase that laid the foundation for the Clinton surpluses. Disabused and unforgiving Republican constituents abandoned him in droves in 1992. He lost.
A wise maxim for a political candidate in this country might be, “Never, never, never tell people the truth—they will kill you for it.” Instead we insist on living in a world enshrouded with myth.
One of the biggest we’ve insisted on living with over the past half century is the notion that we can have all manner of middle class subsidies—tax free interest on ever bigger houses, pennies to pay for Social Security, Medicare and, in extremis, Medicaid before dying.
Ever smaller tax rates—from 90% in the 1950s down to 36% today--and ever newer toll free high ways, bigger airports, and fancier new high schools with state of the art theatres, swimming pools, art rooms, free bussing and the newest technology.
And nobody needs to pay for it. Ever. Want to get killed at the polls? Tell the citizenry that either the schools have to reduce programs or taxes have to go UP. Or that they may have to start paying tolls on Michigan freeways. You can sneak it in—but don’t tell them.
We’ve gone into our wars the same way. Iraq wasn’t going to cost anything because rebuilding the nation would be paid for by Iraqi oil revenues. We were fighting in World War II to save democracy—not by any chance to settle some imperial scores.
(The cynical battle front G.I., when asked what HE was actually fighting for, typically answered, “ A piece of mom’s apple pie.” LBJ got briefly honest about why he thought he was in Vietnam and said bluntly, “They want what we got.” What happened to saving Vietnam from communism? LBJ’s public fantasy world fell apart before he even tried to run again in 1968.)
Today we’re being told we can have universal health care (something I believe in), but that it won’t cost us a dime—in fact it will SAVE us money. True, it doesn’t have to cost what this bill will make it cost, but it won’t cost LESS! But, again, try to tell people the truth about health care in this country—and you get wrathful tea parties like last summer’s—attended by people so blinded by their own mythology that they didn’t realize Medicare IS a government program!
(Remember the original Boston Tea Party occurred when the British cut rates on legal tea so far that it was cheaper to buy the legal stuff than the tea American smugglers were sneaking in. So the smugglers banded together and dumped the legal leaf over the side.)
Going to war—or fighting a crisis in the economy or the health care system—blinded by myth, lied to by politicians who tell us what we insist on hearing, isn’t a sound or sane way to make policy. It really isn’t. I suggest to the American voter that he stop yammering about lying politicos and develop within himself a tolerance for truth.
How about evaluating policy by whether or not it is real, whether or not it is honest (I didn’t say “nice” or that it will make the Susie’s of the world like us, I said honest and true)? How about evaluating a war or a policy in the same cold bloodedly rational way we should evaluate our investments—will they benefit us? Will they accomplish the mission? Can we afford them? Will we make enough back to justify the investment in blood, treasure and materiel?
The cataracts of myth merely make US blind; they don’t change the realities of the world we must deal with. Or the real costs. Or the likely consequences.
Applied reality will enable us to shift positions and alter our approaches more quickly as situations become clearer or changes occur. Investors who make big money—and hang on to it—hold to very, very few myths.
Nations that wish to succeed and survive need to be as wise—and as unswervingly honest.
Again, I didn’t say “nice” or “likeable” or “fanciful”.