A means to an end (#1370)

A means to an end is obvious to those of us who care to dig deep into what some will do or say to become something they desire. Some think that any means available to get to an end is acceptable. Others, like myself, do not. I prefer and actually demand that some form of honest honorable calculation be present in the actual means. I am stubborn that way since I feel that truth and honesty are a priority for a society to function well. When the means of a thing are open to truth and lies, it lessens the ability of those affected to understand the simple idea being manipulated. Any time lies are interjected into an argument or perception of an ideal, we all lose in the understanding of the argument or ideal. Manipulation or confusion of ideas is a means to an end for some who cannot logically explain their purpose, thus the usage of lies. The subtleness of lying as a strategy has been successful in the past and therefore, a plausible default position when the truth of a thing being promoted is illogical or irrational, however convincingly told. As all of us have internal "bullshit meters" we are also susceptible to being influenced by "bullshit". That is where the means to an end diverts from an honest application of facts and truths toward a dishonest application of facts with enough misdirection to distort what can appear to be a truth. Such is our society in this 21st century. We have honed the nefarious fine art of deception enough to make it appear to be virtuous. How utterly crass of some of us in our quest to enact any and all methods of propaganda in order to achieve a desired goal. The means to an end do matter and when we allow a means to an end not to matter is when we have crossed into a paradigm that has damaged our society without any redeeming value.