Stephanie Erecsson's The Ways We Lie

“No, you look great in that color”, “I don’t think you need to diet”, or “I’ve never binge watched Netflix” are all example of common lies we tell. As Stephanie Erecsson, the author of “The Ways We Lie” essay, implies that white lies are necessities for living. Though, when lies are incorporated into important affairs, lots of trouble can be aroused. Lying can become a cultural cancer when provided in any political or governmental situation, however, in an individual’s personal life, lying is necessary.
Politicians are known for their notorious lying tactics; their strategy for lying can either make or break them. In the presidential election of 1988, the Republican party, George H. W. Bush, was running against the Democratic party, Michael Dukakis. To make his supporters, well support him, Bush had to make them believe that he was going to
cut taxes. When Bush said “Read my lips, no new taxes” he lied. He lied to make his opponent, Dukakis, look bad wanting to increases taxes. The problem with Bush’s lie is that all the people that voted for him were expecting their taxes to be reduced. When Bush did not reach their expectations, new problems had risen; most important one being he lied. Lies in politics is -once again- supposed to be expected, but is it morally wrong to lie if it is effecting thousands of other people?
Lies being mixed into government will typically make a cocktail of trouble, especially when civilians lives are at hand.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is a federal agency that’s job is to support the heath and prevention of the United States’ citizens from diseases. Unfortunately, whether CDC was “confused” or lying, there have been moments in history that the agency has given false information to the public. The CDC had originally stated that in order for the Ebola disease to be spread, the transmission had to be through direct contact. It was soon discovered later through media that the disease could be passed on through bodily fluid droplets that are then absorbed through the skin. CDC then admitted to lying about the disease’s transmission and then stated that it could be “indirectly” spread. If an agency was explicitly created to protect individuals from diseases, then why would they hide the truth by lying to the public? If the situations were worse than it was, how many injuries or deaths would it take for the agency to finally tell the truth? All questions revolve around on how the CDC would react, or if at
all.
The federal government is not the only place that lies can cause chaos; within an individual’s own privacy can lies create big messes. In the seventh grade, I was failing Spanish. It was my first year taking a foreign language and I was struggling to pass my tests. I was so scared of what my parents would say so I had decided to not tell them about my grades. At the time, I thought that I wasn’t doing any damage, after all, I did believe that not telling them wouldn’t be a bad thing because it was not lying- I was just not saying anything. As time had passed my report card had eventually came out. I had the usual As and Bs… and a F in Spanish. I was terrified. My luck really started going downhill when my mother asked about my report card. I told her the teachers hadn’t handed them out yet -a lie- and continued saying that for the rest of the week. When my parents had finally found out about my lies and my grade I was practically dead. I had gotten my electronics and other privileges revoked and also had to suffer from the rath of my father. Education is very important in my family and I should have known better at the time to tell my parents right away, but fear had gotten the best of me.
By this point, lying seems like it’s no good in any situations, but that itself is a lie. Lying can actually diffuse plenty of different uncomfortable situations. Let’s say your grandmother comes down stairs wearing a long black dress, black tennis shoes, and black eyeliner that resembles a raccoon. You think she looks like Marilyn Manson, but you say she looks great because you think if you tell her the truth you will literally give her a heart attack. Lying helped you. Now you’re walking down the street and see a homeless man steal a piece of bread from the market and no one sees but you (cliché, I know). The man looks like he hasn’t touched food in weeks, do you call the cops or let him get away with it? If you let him get away with it, then lying might have saved that man for the night.
What’s important to gain from lying is that lies are okay if the majority are positively affected from them. But if a lie may hurt ten or more people, then perhaps the truth will work out better. Lying can be a cultural cancer, but if properly used, lying can be the cure to cultural cancers.