5/11/07 Can the Essence of Truth be Peculiarly Relative?

I guess we all want to know the truth. You know, sort of "find the truth and the truth will set you free". Some truths seem more true than others, like "what goes up must come down"---- except for the rare exceptions under certain conditions. So that truth is almost always true. All of us exist--- and clearly, in some sense of the word exist, our existence has to be true. But it is also equally true that sometimes what is true for one might not be true for another. One may like opera and one may like hillbilly music or God forbid, gansta rap. How many times in life have you heard people argue over what music is best? or what kind of art? or even what kind of government? Truth, I guess, is often kind of personal, an elusive mental variant. I hate that truth can so often be elusive, and, that it can often be a relative term kind of angers me. Truth should be truth, period. Sometimes I don't care much, like if your favorite color is blue and mine is yellow. I can handle that. At the other extremes are religious, racial, sexual, political, cultural 'truths'. Find the "truth" in these areas and the "truth" will often get you killed, or cause you to kill or support the killing of others. This sometimes relativity of truth can generate enigmatic notions wrapped in enigmatic levels of emotional rage. Sometimes we can keep the rage within and just wait for an opportunity to teach these truth heathens a lesson, but given the right circumstances it seems human beings can kind of become mass murderers of the most vicious sort, no death being too slow or cruel. Not you or I of course, but others like those in Ireland or Iraq or Serbia or Africa or downtown Detroit seem susceptible and intolerant---uncivilized animals of some sort.

Whatever truth is, it must be important since there is so much killing and hate over truth. When I observe how far so many are willing to go to defend their peculiar insight of a particular 'truth' I think I must be kind of a coward. Not only do I find live and let live mostly acceptable, but I think more than most I end up seeing the 'truth' of a particular issue differently with age---I switch and begin to see it otherwise. One of the benefits of teaching college for so many years is the opportunity, whether you want to or not, to be exposed daily to those who see so many 'truths' differently. Most on either side in this atmosphere tend to dig in and before long the truths become an ingrained, circle the wagons, defend till your last dying breath sort of exercise just like with George Bush's truths. Not I of course, unless it be some sort of more 'important' truth like the inherent qualities of Terrell Owens. I mean some matters you can't let go, and if others can't understand the truth, well they need to be, at minimum, muzzled for life. One has to take a stand someplace. But other times, for reasons not well understood, I tend to listen to those in life traveling a different path. Strange, but the more one listens the less the variation in the perception of 'truth' seems to be so emotionally important. At least one can understand why they feel and act as they do. More importantly are the positive bonds that CAN be established and a willingness on both sides to accommodate differences in a civilized kindly way. UNDERSTANDINGS REALLY CAN BE ACHIEVED, and the bonus achieved by both discordant sides is a kind of positive emotional energy as opposed to the previous negative emotional energy. So many of those 'hell bent' in the pursuit of a 'truth', which is peculiar to them, are essentially wound up hard wired emotionally irrational terrorists of some sort. In a broad sense they are willing to at least figuratively kill for that personally perceived truth. Given the right circumstances the word figuratively could be dropped. Then you have war, murder, genocide, religious cleansing, etc.

The abortion issue, the immigration issue, same sex marriages, flag burning, recreational drug abuse, gun control laws, prayers in school, etc. are all issues in which truth tends often to lie in the eyes of the beholder. It really boils down to my favorite quote on issues like this---this quote relating to pornography: "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it". So much of what really angers us about controversial topics boils down to about the same thing, "I know the truth when I see or feel it". Let's face it, when we have to use the word "I" to prove the truth of something, the case becomes, by default, irrelevant. Whatever objectively defines the truth of anything, it is not "I". Not anyone's "I". Not any "I" who wrote some scripture, not the Pope, not any King, not any political leader, not even Terrell Owens---not that he uses the word "I" that often, if I can use the word often very loosely. Very loosely.

I have shied away from the immigration issue because the issue, in terms of cause and effect, is too complex. No one should be in anyone else's country illegally. The world should not be overpopulated and millions scrambling desperately to compete for the dwindling natural resources. Before overpopulation anyone could simply live off the land, just stay put. Not anymore in more and more places. Every country has the right to control it's borders and should do so. We could control our borders and could keep tabs on who lives in our country and gets our jobs, but we never have. So people desperate to make a better living for themselves and their families do what any desperate people have ever done, they risk everything to get to someplace better. The consequence of our failure to control our own borders has resulted in millions of illegal aliens. Many have been here for decades, many have been here a short time. Everyone agrees allowing illegal immigrants to become legal citizens is unfair to those who limit their efforts to come here to legal immigration procedures. Of course the bigger truth is that most countries no longer need or can support more people, so in that sense immigration should just stop. Enough is enough. See, there are 'truths' all over the place here. Find Illegal immigrants and return them to their native land is perfectly logical. But like all these issues, not much is perfectly clear, let alone perfectly right.

When I moved into my condo the building was not finished. Many of the workers were hispanic of some sort. I got to know many of them. Hard workers, often traveled hours just to get to the site. Many were young. I don't know how many were illegal, but I assume a good number probably were. It annoyed me that their English was so poor--damn it, you're here, learn the language. But then if they are illegal where would they go to learn the language, considering the hours and the physical effort of their jobs where would they find the time or energy to school up on English? Like most people, most of these guys were likable chaps---friendly, eager, and in fact trying harder than most of us to better themselves, or at the very least survive at some minimal level. I can't imagine living and existing like they do. And they gambled everything in their lives to live like this. What kind of world are we living in when living like they do here is an achievement worth risking everything for? I agree in principle, if you are here illegally you should be sent back, EXCEPT I would never want to be the one to kick them in the ass and tell them they have to go back and I am quite sure Jesus or Buddha or most any religious prophet would not be willing to force that on them either. So who would I kick in the ass about the situation and make pay? I will tell you who---all the politicians who made no effort to secure our borders over all these years, all those who made no efforts to ensure employers had to have proof of citizenship to hire someone, all those who said illegal aliens can attend our schools. If there are bastards here, these are the guilty parties. We made it clear to these 'unfortunates' for all these years that if they can just manage to get here, they are home free. We as a country made the mistake of not securing our borders. We should at least do so now, but I see no indication we really will close our borders and control who gets hired for our available jobs. There is something unjust about making the 'least' among us pay for our own mistakes of the past---the old "I (or we) made a stupid mistake so you have to pay for it." The ones I have met are not 'bad' people, did not do anything which most of us would not have done given the opportunity to better ourselves. So I guess I would let them stay unless they have a criminal record and just close the border as tight as a drum, and ensure that all employees are properly screened when they are hired. I would also make the penalties severe for anyone attempting to be here illegally. It simply cannot be allowed. I am not saying we should not deport anyone. I would deport any illegal aliens with criminal records and anyone with the last names of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, Robertson, etc . I mean, we really do need some cleansing. That's the TRUTH. Smile.

In general, illegal immigration problems across the globe cannot be solved until there is forced responsible reproduction (family planning, population controls); global conflict resolutions by negotiation, compromise, and world courts as opposed to military engagements; the freed up resources from military adventures used to protect the environment; separation of religion from politics, global minimum wages, and limits as to just how much of the world's wealth can be monopolized by the affluent. These are the factors really behind immigration problems and most every other major problem facing our new global economy/society. Going after particular religious, racial, sexual orientation, ethnic, or economic groups is simply a misplaced direction of anger. Until our priorities get rearranged---drastically rearranged---none of the real problems of our time will ever get solved. Of course that is merely the truth as I perceive it. And as a genuine member of the terminational stage of life, my perceived truths are now, if they ever were not, irrelevant. Odd, but being irrelevant is kind of enjoyable. And certainly less stressful.

Post script to original posting: Another 'truth' is that illegal immigrants serve a vital part if keeping our 'bargains' intact. 
We can pay them paltry wages. Once these 'slaves' are gone we would have to pay more for many services and goods. In instances where the government has gone in and cleaned out a factory or business of some sort of all illegal immigrants, the result has been closure of the factory and the community turned overnight into an economic ghetto. Legitimate citizens will not work at such wages---hell they can get more on the unemployment line, and the company can't make profits with higher costs so a crisis occurs and the owners close up, and go elsewhere to open a new venture in a new place with legitimate wages or move elsewhere and use immigrants until that new place is closed down. Illegal immigrants are really just an altered form of slavery. A lot of people benefit from 'slavery' of any sort or ilk, including all of us, and the reality sometimes is that we don't like immigrants but we really like some of the benefits of having them here. There is that truth dilemma again.