Troubled nation

Ever wonder how we separate truth from untruth in this troubled society? How do we know the sky is blue and clouds are white without looking? But what if every human except for one among us couldn’t see at birth? We’d have no choice but to believe his or her description.

But isn’t this exactly what we do every day? We trust the veracity and intentions of others when they tell us about things we can’t see that they say are truth, but in reality aren’t. And very often we base our decisions solely on their words. When we multiply the deceptions to include politics, science, education and other once-reliable institutions, we wind up interacting in a society filled with untruths. Watch different TV news and see how many versions of supposed truths are proffered.

Wouldn’t accepting such pervasive untruths be like building a house of sticks that’s easily destroyed when life’s inevitable tornadoes of truth come whipping through and our eyes finally are opened to reveal it? By then, though, what remains are largely the scattered ruins of a nation that had been built upon respect for truth. Do we continue to believe what some self-interested politician claims on TV or the evidence and truth we now can see and experience for ourselves?

That brings us to a second vital aspect of effective human interaction, which is closely related to truth and I believe also crucial to productive human interaction: Honesty.

It has become all but impossible, perhaps by design, for me to determine honesty from dishonesty now. When a nation becomes corrupted from top to bottom by dishonesty and by the love of money and power, the entire society suffers.

Another quality vital to cohesiveness within a nation is trust. When trust in any relationship fades because of sustained lies and dishonesty, it naturally evaporates on a national level in the same way.

All this results in an overall loss of respect. How can I or anyone have respect for the corrupted processes we have allowed to take root and metastasize across society any more than we would respect another person with a growing history of dishonesty and lost trust?

So where do we go from here, valued readers?

ALDEAN’S SMALL TOWN

Like many readers, I was born in a small town, and I thank God for that. In such a setting, people reflect strong values, respect for law, care about each other and continually show their concern in many ways.

Having spent years in sprawling, impersonal megalopolises, I’ve also lived with the reality of indifference to life, disregard and disrespect for others and the law.

In his latest controversial chart-topping country hit, “Try That in a Small Town,” Jason Aldean extols small-town values against the backdrop in his video of news footage showing bands of rioting criminals freely burning and looting urban cities across America.

Here are the lyrics that left some fuming about “racism” and prompted Country Music Television to foolishly drop his video.

Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk

Carjack an old lady at a red light Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store

Ya think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya like

Cuss out a cop, spit in his face Stomp on the flag and light it up Yeah, ya think you’re tough. Well, try that in a small town See how far ya make it down the road

Around here, we take care of our own

You cross that line, it won’t take long

For you to find out, I recommend you don’t

Try that in a small town.

I read nothing racist in this. Neither do I believe bands of criminals would get very far in escaping a cell in any small town after committing the crimes he cites.

GODSPEED, MO

Meredith Oakley, the former columnist and editor over more than three decades at this newspaper, was found dead of natural causes in her home last week. She was 72. My experience with Meredith, who I always affectionately referred to as MO, began at UCA while working on the student newspaper together.

While she would wind up her writing and editing career as the paper’s Voices page editor, my career path had led me out of state until coming home as a columnist in 2001 and submitting my work to her for editing and review three times a week over 10 years.

In many ways, MO was an ideal editor for me. She was conscientious and very capable, always an appreciated trait for someone in that position. More than that, she always treated me like she would have wanted me to treat her. She was a communicator. If I’d gotten something wrong or awkwardly worded, she would always let me know and make suggestions on how best to change it.

Unfortunately, I lost track when she retired in 2011. But isn’t “hello and goodbye” the way our lives go? People flow in and out before becoming memories.

My memories of Meredith will always be filled with admiration, gratitude and respect.