I never intended to write a book. All of this started when I wrote a letter.
A lot of people seemed to enjoy reading this letter, and one of the reasons they enjoyed reading it was that it had a bunch of naughty words in it. Words like lustful cockmonster and narcissistic fromunda stain and holy fucking shitballs.
Some other people didn’t like the language, and I imagine they went into apoplectic fits when they finally reached the very last word I wrote down, which I’ve taken the delight of reprinting here:
Asshole.
Coincidentally, Kurt Vonnegut always included a stylized picture of an asshole next to his signature (one of the many delightful hand-drawn illustrations he liked to include in his stories). There’s a big asterisk middle finger emblazoned on the spine of each book (at least on the ones I own, anyway), telling the world that this was his voice and you could take it or leave it.
I like Kurt’s voice, how he was able to highlight the absurdities and awfulness of the human race, hope and depression all twisted together into one complex knot (just like people!). I’m not Kurt, though. I have to use my own voice—colorful language, obscure tangents, mixed metaphors, and all.
As the great poet Marshall Mathers put it,
Sorry, Mama, I’m grown, I must travel alone
Ain’t following no footsteps, I’m making my own.
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.
So now that I’m writing a book, people have suggested topics for me to consider. Some of them I like, some of them I’ll ignore (I’m the one writing; I get to make the rules), but one in particular I find absolutely fascinating. The topic is “How the truth will always help you win.”
Sorry, but that’s not true. The truth will help you win only if people are willing to educate themselves as to why truth is important, and, make no mistake, truth is very important.
But what is truth?
To me, truth boils down to two things: a willingness to see the world as it really is, and the desire to change your beliefs when they conflict with your vision.
First off, to see the world as it really is. The world, one that we’ve made for ourselves, is absolutely fucked. We drop bombs on each other, kill children in the name of religion, discriminate against the poor and minorities because they’re “different,” pollute and destroy and despoil to satisfy our own selfish needs; in short, human beings are assholes.
The world is also full of joy and wonder: a fireman running into a burning building to save a complete stranger; a church offering food and shelter to the homeless; a child given encouragement and love from those around her. Human beings are assholes, but they’re also self-sacrificing, noble, and filled with boundless love.
The world is full of complexity. This is the truth, and it’s a hard one to learn. People can’t be defined by labels or categories; one man’s hero is another man’s villain. We cannot judge people by their own claims, which they shape as they see fit, or their thoughts, which we cannot see; we can judge people only by their actions and by how those actions affect others around them.
The truth is that the world is what we make it. What consequences our actions bring—that is truth. What our society values, not in word or phrase but in law and policy—that is truth. What people are willing to fight for, work for, die for—that is truth. The only truth that is self-evident is that we determine how truthful we want to be with each other.
Right now, the truth is that we value the shallow, the immaterial, the worthless, and the inane. Huge department stores and horse-meat hamburger chains are built on shoveling as much cheap, easily replaceable trash on people as they can, no matter the consequences. (Have another Double McLard Burger to go with your lead-infused milk!) Reality TV, daytime talk shows—they’re mindless pap to distract us from actual issues. (But, boy, I’m sure glad Maury found out the fifth man tested was the child’s father!) Political races are closer to gladiatorial spectacles than rational discussions of important matters (why think when we can be entertained!).
The truth will always help you win? Hardly likely. No one is interested in the truth anymore, because the truth is harsh, unpalatable, bitter to the tongue and the mind. Give us our soma, our video walls, our bread and circuses to numb the dull ache of ignorance until we don’t even realize what it is we’ve lost. Give us a truth, but not the truth, because to change our beliefs and confront that truth is to admit that we’ve failed as a country and as a people, grown fat and indolent on the spoils of empire, that we’re content to fiddle as it all slowly burns around us, unwilling and unable to recognize that this path has been well trod throughout the course of history. For the truth to win, you have to want to know the truth, and not many people have the appetite.
Perhaps enough people will one day realize the truth—that we have only each other on this planet, that how we treat one another is the only legacy we leave for our children—and will act accordingly. Perhaps one day people will realize that we are a species composed of complex and unique individuals, that our differences don’t divide us but instead highlight our wondrous diversity. Perhaps one day people will treat each other the way they want to be treated: with respect, with dignity, with tolerance and compassion. That’s the day the truth will win.
Until that day, ask me no questions, and I’ll tell you no lies.