The most interesting conversation is not about why Donald Trump lies. Many public figures lie, and he's only a severe example of a common type. The interesting conversation concerns how we come to accept those lies.
Interpretation
This quote prompts reflection on societal acceptance of lies rather than just focusing on the individual who tells them.
Bret Stephens highlights that the focus should not merely be on why a particular individual, like Donald Trump, lies, but rather on the broader societal dynamics that allow such lies to be accepted. This speaks to a deeper philosophical inquiry into truth, perception, and the responsibilities of both leaders and the public in acknowledging and confronting dishonesty.
In practice
During a seminar on ethics in politics, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of holding society accountable.
I routinely interview college students, mostly from top schools, and I notice that their brains are like old maps, with lots of blank spaces for the uncharted terrain. It's not that they lack for motivation or IQ. It's that they can't connect the dots when they don't know where the dots are in the first place.
The more afraid we are of the shadow of racism, the more conscious we might become of our own unsuspected biases.
We live in a world in which data convey authority. But authority has a way of descending to certitude, and certitude begets hubris.
The American birthright belongs, potentially, to everyone. This is unprecedented. Other countries accept migrants on the basis of economic necessity or as a humanitarian gesture. Only in America is it the direct consequence of our foundational ideals.
Neither happiness nor grief are everlasting in this life - but one of the two is everlasting in the next. Which one do you want?
Is man one of God's blunders? Or is God one of man's blunders?
When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.
In the U.S., while individual whites might be against racism, they still benefit from their group's control. Yes, an individual person of color can sit at the tables of power, but the overwhelming majority of decision-makers will be white. Yes, white people can have problems and face barriers, but systematic racism won't be one of them.
There are no masses; there are only ways of seeing people as masses
The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion, and the tyranny of the dull mind forever threatens -- but our lives are not as limited as we think they are, all things are possible, laughter is holier than piety, freedom is sweeter than fame, and in the end it's love and love alone that really matters.
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