Three years after the US’s catastrophic run from Afghanistan, most Americans have no clue what happened. No one has stood up and taken responsibility. Five years after the killings that triggered Black Lives Matter (BLM) most Americans do not really understand what happened and the surrounding circumstances. Even more recently, most of do not understand with the Chinese balloon that transited American from coast to coast. Going back farther, most do not understand the Gulf of Tonkin that expanded our involvement in Vietnam. The list goes on and on. We can cite examples from corporations, politics, and regulation and taxation. Truth is hidden and trust is broken. The citizens, as shown by many polls, do not trust government functions, CEOs, and even our generals and admirals.
There is a saying that truth is the first casualty of war. The actual attribution is obscure, but it is often quoted. However, I think it is too narrowly defined. Truth is the first casualty of unchecked or unbalanced power. We see this in board rooms, bureaucracies, legislatures, and executive suites as well as war. When truth is a casualty, the death of trust is not far behind.
Bad things happen when truth and trust die. If we had truth, trust, and virtue, the riots in 2020 may not have happened. The problem is even more severe when governments—the sole arbiter of “legal” force and violence—get involved. As Frank Herbert, in Chapterhouse: Dune, wrote,
“All governments suffer a recurring problem:
Power attracts pathological personalities.
It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.”
Herbert’s thoughts on AI are also illuminating. Taken together, power to compel, AI, and pathological personalities seems to foreshadow even greater problems with trust and truth. Without virtue, the problems will be magnified
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