As many people know, Prime Minister Edward Heath lied to the public about the political ethos and ultimate aims of what was then the EEC, later to become the EU. Reprehensible of him of course, but there is a certain status in lying to the wider public, supposedly for their own good.
This status is not dissimilar to that of a parent withholding certain facts of life from a child, certain unpleasant truths which are thought to be inappropriate for a child to know or simply difficult for a child to understand. In the adult world, there is the status of having attained a position where it is not inappropriate to omit certain information when talking down to the wider public.
So it probably was with Edward Heath lying about the nature of the EEC. Within his political and social position, virtuous mendacity was an affirmation of his status as Prime Minister, lying for the ultimate good of the little people. The ability to do that, having the responsibility of virtuous public mendacity laid upon one’s shoulders, that is where the status comes in.
Once a person crosses the invisible line to rub shoulders with the elite, then virtuous mendacity becomes part of the role - telling the little people how they should view their world. This mostly involves being economical with the truth, a term with which we have become entirely familiar.
To be economical with the truth literally means to avoid revealing too much of the truth. While the idea may have an approbatory sense of prudence or diplomacy, the phrase is often either used euphemistically to denote dissimulation (misleading by withholding pertinent information) or else used ironically to mean outright lying. The term parsimonious with the truth is also sometimes used in the same way.
Alan Durant of Middlesex University describes the phrase prior to 1986 as having "extremely restricted currency" and as a rule used in allusion to either Burke or Twain.
In our degenerate times, it could almost be said that virtuous mendacity has become an essential aspect of noblesse oblige. Perhaps on reflection it always was, but now many more people have joined the club and more aspire to join.
Even celebrities spouting their lines at Glastonbury. Virtuous mendacity isn’t a moral hoop they have to jump through either. Most are well compensated by the status it offers.
2 comments:
Virtuous mendacity used to be a thing more of the right than the left. Traditional conservatives were described by my old professor of politics as those who had a keen sense of human evil, and some ideas on how to prevent that evil prevailing. I've always liked that, and part of it was certainly lying to people in their own interests.
The Millian liberals, however, wanted people to know the truth and to make up their own minds. The left probably said that they wanted to speak truth to power, but in reality were just after power.
What's amazing is how everyone now engages in virtuous mendacity. The PM, the media, and odd little androgynous goblins from Sweden who have been given a microphone. The fun bit for us onlookers is speculating on how much of the nonsense they actually believe.
Sam - how much of the nonsense they actually believe is quite a problem. It seems easier to avoid the traditional idea of belief and focus on a shallower psychology of allegiances and the way we navigate through life by avoiding negative consequences.
For the elites, unfashionable views would be have powerful negative consequences and they don't have to think deeply to see that and avoid them.
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