Who do you Trust?
It appears we‘ve entered yet another leap year. We know this because a glance at a 2024 calendar confirms a 29th day in February. Why does this matter? It happens almost every four years. As with all leap years since our nation was born, 2024 is an election year for the U.S. Presidency. In fact, throughout our entire history as a nation, each time we elect a President, it occurs in a leap year, except for a few instances. Is this something we should worry about?
Throughout history, the concept of a leap year has given rise to numerous superstitions worldwide. You’re familiar with many of them. It’s considered either unlucky or lucky. It can be a year of death or life. On February 29th, women have the chance to get down on one knee and propose marriage to a man. This tradition has been around for 800 years. Unless you happen to be someone who observes and follows superstitions, these predictions can seem comical. They are often based on emotion or mild OCD rather than logic. Perhaps in anticipation of this year’s elections, we citizens should resist our compulsions in favor of a more scientific method for selecting our elected representatives.
The most rigorous scientific method for evaluating a candidate for office, whether new or incumbent, is to assume that anything they say is inaccurate, misleadingly phrased, or an outright lie. This assumption applies to a candidate you dislike and one you are eager to support. Disagree? I’ll present a simple method of proof that this is the only effective way to assess candidates for office. Brace yourselves — this may be counterintuitive.
Let’s consider an unrelated example that most people will recognize — actors or actresses who now prefer to be called actors. In our celebrity-obsessed culture, we all tend to have actors we admire, respect, and sometimes even obsess over. We’ve all watched enough movies and TV shows to form an informed opinion about the quality of their acting skills. When we watch a film, there are actors we dislike or find unconvincing. In doing so, we evaluate the actor based on their abilities and conclude they are unconvincing. Being an unconvincing actor means judging that the performance was not “believable." This is technically equivalent to not being a convincing liar. Granted, being a convincing liar seems to be an unspoken requirement of a good performance— presumably taking on a role as a character that is different from the actor. If we extrapolate from this reasoning, a good actor is a good liar — because their convincing performance allows viewers to suspend disbelief and enjoy the show.
One consequence of our celebrity-worshipping culture is that when a well-rehearsed actor appears on talk shows or is interviewed, they already have the ability to convince an audience that they are who they portray. Not the sharpest knives in our collective drawer, they become convinced that their opinions are valid and that they receive feedback from fans indicating their views are worthy.
Some actors seek a political career after their youthful on-screen appearances have been overtaken by younger versions of themselves. The critical point is that some individuals in our culture are excellent actors but have never appeared in a movie. They are politicians, and they are already skilled liars.
The problem for citizens is that we cannot conclude that what a politician says is what he or she believes. Politicians can be accomplished liars who, once elected to office, are primarily concerned with either being re-elected or obtaining a more powerful government position that aligns with their expanded self-perception.
If you believe what a politician says is political fiction, you can research their positions to see if they have consistently held the same views. If you find that they have changed their stance on an issue without providing a convincing reason for the change, you can conclude that they do not have your interests in mind. Reject them and work to vote them out of office.
Yes, this makes your role as a citizen more time-consuming and significant. That is your responsibility as a citizen. We must remove those individuals from our government who will only offer you any benefit if it doesn’t hinder their relentless pursuit of their self-interest.
Can I get a witness?
