Is Integrity Dead?

In light of what we are witnessing and experiencing in the world today, integrity may seem like an old-fashioned concept unrelated to modern life. If we look up the definition of integrity in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, we will learn that integrity means “adherence to a strict moral or ethical code; incorruptible; honest; virtuous.” Unfortunately, when we read the daily news headlines, we may think there are no people left with any shred of integrity because almost every news story has to do with corruption, dishonesty, or lack of virtue.

We also don’t hear much about “walking your talk” these days unless in conjunction with a Twelve Step addiction recovery program or other counselling scenario. Walking your talk means that what you say is consistent with what you do all the time -- even when nobody is watching. A person who walks their talk keeps their commitments and is willing to make personal sacrifices in order to stay true to their word.

I don’t know about you, but I do not like to be lied to or gaslighted

Another old maxim states “actions speak louder than words.” This oft repeated adage means that a person’s convictions and intentions are better judged by what they actually do rather than by what they say they are going to do. (In other words, don’t keep telling me you want to lose 50 pounds while you continue to eat three donuts every day because I will not believe you sincerely want to lose weight until I see a change in behavior.) This saying has been around for a long time because it rings true. A person’s actions do speak louder than their words.

In Joe Biden’s inaugural speech, he said repeatedly that he wanted to “unify the country.” Biden continues to say he wants to unify the country, but his actions say otherwise. If Biden was sincere in wanting to unify the country, he would not have signed 99% of the Executive Orders he has signed since taking office in January 2021.

In Biden’s case, it isn’t just his actions that don’t match his words. His choice of words and continual belittling of patriotic and God-fearing Americans also demonstrate a complete lack of truth in anything he says or does, thereby, exposing his stated goal to unify America as a complete lie. It is hard to know if he is just practicing a basic tenet of communism – if you repeat the lie often enough, people will start to believe it – or if he is so narcissistic and demented that he actually believes his own rhetoric.

I don’t know about you, but I do not like to be lied to or gaslighted. I also don’t like to do business with unethical and dishonest people. There was a time in society when a person’s word or promise was to be trusted, but that is no longer the case. 

It is not a coincidence that the person Americans distrust the most at this point in time is President Joe Biden

In 2023, we not only cannot trust our auto repair shop, our banker, or our medical doctor, but we cannot trust our government leaders and the media to tell us the truth (about almost anything) or behave in an honest and ethical manner. It is not a coincidence that the person Americans distrust the most at this point in time is President Joe Biden, who has earned the title Liar-in-Chief because he cannot manage to tell the truth no matter what he is talking about.

Without commitment to telling the truth, an individual cannot develop the values and skills necessary to walk their talk and live a life of integrity. Humans are not born with integrity. Integrity is developed over time by practicing and cultivating honesty, showing respect for others, exhibiting responsible behavior, and demonstrating fairness, kindness, and compassion in our personal and professional relationships.

Booker T. Washington, an American educator, author, orator, and advisor to several U.S. Presidents, was a man of great integrity, and he talked a lot about cultivating “character.” One of his most famous quotes is “Character is power.” If we substitute the word integrity for character, I believe the sentence still conveys the same message. Mr. Washington also said, “Character, not circumstances, make the man.” I believe this is also a powerful and true statement. There are many, many examples of individuals who grew up in poverty, in abusive households, or under less-than-ideal circumstances, who have managed to develop high levels of integrity or what Washington called character.

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“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”

So, is integrity and walking one’s talk dead in America in 2023? I don’t believe these virtues are totally dead, but they are certainly circling the drain (a quaint American expression). The types of virtues talked about by Plato, Aristotle, Voltaire, and America’s Founding Fathers have been abandoned for “woke” ideology and “virtue signaling behaviors” currently being promoted by Left-leaning persons attempting to show how “progressive” and “superior” they are compared to you and me.

What is truly dangerous about the promotion of woke ideology is that those at the top who are promoting these ideas appear to have completely abandoned any sense of virtue as we have known it in the past and simply want to exert power and control over the rest of us. The question that now nags at me is how can I, one little gray-haired lady in tennis shoes, continue to practice the virtues I’ve spent a lifetime cultivating, when people like Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates want to see me dead, or at the very least, living under their complete control? I have thought about this question a lot in the last two years, and I’ve concluded that the simplest answer is also the best answer. I will continue to live my life with the same level of integrity I always have with the help of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” ~ Harvey Mackay (businessman and author of Swim With the Sharks)

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