On the virtues of the lie

We had the full complement of textbook and exams. The Moral Science text was essentially comprised of short stories with a moral lesson.

After the reading was done, we were required to answer the questions at the end of the chapter and at the end of term we were tested on our recall of the stories and moral lessons. One of the most memorable ones for me was on the art of lying, a story through which we were taught the value of lies. Basically, there are circumstances when telling the truth does more harm than good and therefore a lie is more useful.

Coincidentally, this week, I was reminded of the lesson while looking at an Indian film based on the life of the 13th century queen Rudhramadevi - (weak portrayals though the story itself is worth telling. It gets one out of five stars) - who masqueraded as a boy for most of her life. Had her father declared her a girl to the citizens, the throne would have been taken by the next male, a cousin under whom citizens would have faced physical and financial oppression.

In addition, the kingdom also would have been opened to attacks from factions waiting on the opportunity to claim the throne. A male heir who was trained in combat and had as his priority, the welfare of his people, served a greater good. The gender of the ‘prince’ thus remained hidden until it was eventually uncovered.

We all lie. That’s a given. Why and for what purpose the lie is told is what renders it its positive or negative character.

This reminder set the stage for the news this week, when we were informed of the hunting of flamingoes and scarlet ibises. Some friends steupsed loudly at the television when the Minister of Agriculture came on and declared that flamingoes weren’t protected under our laws. (News-watching is a community affair on my end. We marvel at the idiotic statements we have grown accustomed to hearing from people in higher office. We have stopped asking the question, how they so stupid? That’s now a given. We girls have realized that higher office demands a higher level of ignorance. Tempers flare in the TV room but the power of the group helps to calm the storm, for there’s always that body, the goodytwo- shoes who tries to explain the trajectory of ignorance and why it occurs).

If ever there was a tactless statement - No laws to protect the flamingoes.

Well, words fired, can’t return. What is the Minister going to say to retract that information? (Well he did declare today as I write this, that he will not tolerate the hunting of the scarlet ibis and it was good to see the flamingoes returning to the island).

So, anyway, for all you people who were probably hunting the flamingoes when nobody was looking, it’s okay. You can do it freely now. Unless of course flamingoes are considered wild meat, in which case, the government intends to deal with this issue. For now however, nobody is going to fine you.

I, Minister of Agriculture, in the fulfilment of my duties towards the people, have provided you with the truth.

See, this is a Minister that doesn’t really rock the boat so, since we all disappoint sometimes, one wishes to cut him some slack this time.

This body however, can’t really get over the fact that politicians lie as fast as the wind blows across the nation’s potholes and patchwork roads, and for the important things that we should know, but they decide to tell the truth about things that they should intelligently keep from the larger public.

Some of us have no issue with lies really, as long as you are doing something for the greater good.

This is therefore not a matter of morality as such. It’s about using some grey matter to curb a problem that we have of Trinidadians assuming that they can kill and sell everything that looks edible without any regard for the long-term effects on the environment.

Many living beings were hunted at will before they became endangered species. But we still wait for the process of endangering to begin.

So be it. Now that we have arrived at this point here, it’s time to review and revise laws and fines that were once put into place regarding hunting.

We definitely can’t look to the government to do that. Concerned citizens in any case usually begin the process of change and push governments into action.

And we know that our administration still has the task of the conservation of the population to address. So, what’s a few flamingoes!