As our political and governmental systems deepen their dysfunctionality, as corporations act ever more brazenly in their greed, as our planet suffers from the horrors of a broken culture, we clearly recognize that these systems fail miserably when it comes to integrity. When we look at our local and statewide political institutions, we see a similar pattern of corruption, with policies and attitudes that favor the folks with lots of money.
And when we see two horrendous mass shootings only hours apart, one a mere 50 miles from me, we know we are descending into chaos due to corruption.
President Trump is not the cause of our deep seated problems, though he certainly typifies the policies and attitudes that are so destructive to human health and happiness — and that of our planet.
You see, Donald Trump was never taught the value of integrity. Just like so many of the ruling class, greed, power and control far outweigh any thoughts about ‘doing the right thing’. This pattern has been endemic for so long that rich folks like Trump cannot even empathize with those of a ‘lesser station in Life’, much less hold integrity in their hearts and minds.
So why is integrity important, or even required as I suggest in the title? It’s obvious in most areas of our lives. If our home doesn’t have integrity it falls down. If all the hardware and software of the Interweb lacked integrity our phones and computers would be worthless.
Looking toward nature, the integrity of ecosystems is truly a marvel. Patterns of beginning, growth, stability and ending are common to all Life. Without something as simple as the integrity of cell walls we would not exist. The implicit integrity of water or of an ancient forest calls us to reverence. There is a simple elegance to integrity. It is what it is. It requires no bullshit for its justification. Indeed, integrity is a requirement for functionality.
Now let me get personal for a moment. Without our personal integrity we cannot know peace and love. If you are not honest, it leaves a mark, as we are out of alignment with nature and with truth. As children of the Source of Integrity, we require integrity to be happy. We’ve all had failures of integrity, and know the rotten feeling in our gut for exploiting or lying or cheating on another. Again, there is no peace without integrity.
A culture without integrity is doomed to fail, even as ours is failing now before our eyes. How many shootings will it take? How many destroyed lives from war, pollution, climate chaos and inequality will it take? How much can our planet take until it becomes uninhabitable for us?
For too long we have accepted stories because the story teller is ‘important’ or a presumed expert. Growing up in the 1960s there was blind acceptance of what we read in the paper or saw on the TV. And both were more honest back then.
We’re now learning that our culture was hacked by our corporate overloads. It was in the 1980s and 1990s that great waves of media consolidation took place, and the new bosses didn’t want any unfavorable stories. So they put a stop to them. We continue to be hacked by corporate media. Sinclair Corporation, owning nearly 200 TV stations, continues to force local newspeople to spew their biased stories. It’s the reason Rob Braun and Cammy Dierking are leaving Local 12 here in Cincinnati. And in that hacking, the first thing media conglomerates left behind was integrity.
And that’s just in media. In healthcare, finance and Wall Street, food and energy corporations, we find the same patterns. There is no integrity when the only rule is to make money. It’s time we remedy that monumental failure.