Integrity

One of the ethical precepts I was raised to respect is the simple idea of doing the right thing. My dad was a stickler for this idea. Doing the right thing isn’t that hard according to his teachings. It isn’t about always knowing what is right, always being correct, or always knowing all the answers. It is about being true to yourself and your values. Anyone can follow directions. Anyone can do what they think is right when circumstances encourage correct behavior. The hard part is doing what is right when circumstances don’t encourage it.

I will be the first to admit that I haven’t always done the right thing. There have been instances in my life where I knew what the right thing to do but chose to do the easier thing, or the thing that was more fun, or the thing that would advance my standing. I have always felt terrible when I did this, when I knew what the right thing to do was and simply didn’t do it through personal weakness or laziness.

As I have gotten older, I have found it easier to do the right thing consistently, both for my own peace of mind and because it is simply what I am supposed to do. Correct actions tend to breed correct actions. I have found that standing up for what I think is right is more powerful and necessary than anything I might gain from the opposite action. I always am able to discern what I am supposed to do and for quite a few years it has been the basis for deciding everything in my life.

I don’t suppose that I always know what is right, but I do know that I can follow what I think is right no matter where it may lead. People respect others who follow this principle, even when they disagree with the rationale for deciding the difference between right and wrong. It is more formally called integrity; the effort to do what you believe is right regardless of circumstance.

Unfortunately, this idea of doing what we think is right seems to have fallen into disuse in most aspects of our lives. The idea that the end results outweigh the means seems to be the more prevalent understanding today. Doing what you know is right is a foreign concept in most of the business world today. It is considerably secondary to maximizing profit and market share. This is perhaps the main reason why I have so little use for business leaders running for government positions. The government is not an entity built to make a profit, it is the only means we have of making sure that people are able to do the right thing and still live a good life.

Integrity in our government is perhaps the most important aspect of our government. In a democratic system it is an absolute necessity. The tendency of our leadership to display integrity directly correlates to their ability to effectively govern. There is no substitute for doing the right thing in governance. It is the mortar that holds the edifice of government together and without it, the whole thing inevitably collapses.

We seem to be seeing an appalling lack of integrity in our government presently. From a President who doesn’t have the integrity to tell the truth about almost anything to the Director of the FBI who doesn’t have the integrity to tell the president he can’t discuss active investigations with him. We have seen numerous high government officials in the last couple of weeks testify under oath before Congressional Committees charged with fact finding that they refuse to answer questions about conversations with the President and yet insist they are not invoking Executive Privilege.

We may as well not have Congressional Committees if they are not going to compel testimony from witnesses that appear before them. Any refusal to do so in open or closed session should be immediate grounds for holding the person testifying in contempt of Congress. We should hold those testifying responsible for telling the truth and we should hold the Committee members they are testifying before responsible for making sure they do so.

Doing the right thing is often hard. It involves withstanding political and personal repercussions accordingly. It is also absolutely necessary in our form of government and we should insist that the people we elect adhere to the principle accordingly. I am not sure our form of government can survive the idea that we don’t need integrity. Unfortunately, it looks like we are getting ready to find out if we can or not.