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December 3, 2009

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Letter: It’s often hard to tell truth

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2001 | 8:55 a.m.

The Nov. 27 story by Jerry Fink, "To Tell the Truth," triggered a lifetime of memories. I think that he nicely covered the subject of lying as it relates to current American culture. I have always been (perhaps overly) concerned with the dishonest prospering while the honest were falling behind.

Regretfully, I have concluded that anybody will lie if the pressure is great enough. It has been well documented that nearly all of our prisoners in Korea and Vietnam made false statements about whatever their torturers demanded.

During peacetime, in ordinary business and societal affairs, some people cannot resist lying, especially when required to self-report on their work -- as is commonly required by managers. For a soldier to lie, voluntarily or under pressure, in peacetime about the state of preparedness of his unit is treasonous. I have found that in today's world I cannot trust politicians or bureaucrats to tell the truth. Likewise, I do not expect salesmen to be honest. I once heard an old man say, "When salesmen die, you don't have to bury them, you just screw them into the ground."

I just wish I didn't have to answer yes when asked, "Isn't my boy smart, and isn't my girl pretty?" when neither is either.

LORRIN PETERSON Pahrump

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