Note: This article is published in the Blog section, contains opinion, and was graciously given to The Costa Rica Star by Dave Playfair.

“If you have a business, you didn’t build that.”

Baffling as it may be to comprehend the sheer volume of misinformation and outright lies in today’s society, whether you are in the U.S.A. where this comment originates or in Costa Rica where misdirection is sometimes considered a national pastime, it is certain that we must uproot the rotting, festering wounds in our cultural persona. The aforementioned was a statement recorded in a speech by Mr. Obama (he’s not my president, so I’ll refer to him as Mister).

When the opposing political party heard this sound byte, they rallied their entire campaign around a diametrically opposing statement — or so it would appear at first glance — in order to polarize the unsuspecting, or simply ignorant, public. This so-called “We Did Build This” campaign has generated reams of opposing viewpoints to the aforementioned comment, all pointing out what is apparently obvious, yet taking opposite positions in their viewpoint to the person who actually made the statement — clearly an indication of mass insanity.

Aside from grammatical issue with the fact that Obama’s statement doesn’t make any sense if taken in the context that the Romney supporters appear to be propagating, i.e., one doesn’t quote the famous movie line from Field of Dreams by saying, “If you build ‘that’, he will come”, there are the sentences prior to this statement that puts his view into context in relation to roads and bridges. (One would actually quote the line correctly by saying, for those who don’t remember the movie, “If you build it, he will come”.) It’s a problem with pronouns that translates into a problem with people — or should I say, politics — that further exacerbates the confidence issue that many people have with leaders of any kind, anywhere.

Dishonesty is a harsh fact of life, but the epic proportions to which this undesired trait of human nature has reached is far from something that could be considered acceptable in my view of an advanced society. Compounded with the dishonesty is the reality that technology has allowed us to see into the dark corners where previously we could not, which makes the dishonesty all the more transparent and yet at the same time, frightening. If a person or group of persons has the audacity to spread lies simply to win over those unwilling to analyze facts, even when faced with monumental contradictions spread all over the internet and mass media like wildfire, then we should take a hard look at what our society is becoming — worldwide.

I understand that everyone is inundated with information with opposing viewpoints and this has made it all the more difficult to find the truth without some real investigation. Gone are the days of a minimized choice of a few television stations broadcasting true journalistic integrity via the somber and monotone voices of those great anchors of this tradition. Without the time to investigate these things bombarding us through any number of medium, one can be swayed in an opposing direction to the facts in a now worldwide game of “telephone around the campfire” where whispers bounce from one person to another twisting ever so slightly until the truth is unrecognizable. As a result, trust is often misplaced wherever you lie on the political spectrum.

To be clear, I am neither a U.S. citizen, a Republican, Democrat, Liberal or Conservative. I am a “job creator” and opposed to the many “scam creators” in the world. My viewpoint is that of a citizen of the world where this example of manipulation of facts is not meant to be a focal point on a single political viewpoint (they are all liars, in my humble opinion), but an illustration of a rampant and systematic breakdown of one of the core traits that I believe most world citizens believe strongly in. Honesty.

To bring all of this into context as it affects Costa Rica, despite the differences between nations and cultures, dishonesty has reached proportions that we should all consider unsettling in this small nation. It is the classic “what came first” argument; however, I would propose that the Cultural Honesty Index (there is no such thing, but it sounds like it should exist, right?) has reached an all-time low.

I would further propose that one of the rotten roots that must be weeded out is the international media influence whereby we are constantly bombarded with the fact that dishonesty in parts of the world considered more wealthy have no consequences, or at least very little compared to the level of dishonesty perpetrated. I am not suggesting that we censor international insanity, only that we educate the people around us in critical thinking. Further, another festering wound to be uprooted is the criminal behaviour gone unpunished, perpetrated by foreigners to Costa Rica, still known as a haven for undesirables and conmen.

Costa Rica has its own problems to contend with and it is time that those who do not assist with solutions to the local problems or simply bring additional problems with them are forced to leave. Costa Rica requires leadership amongst the people where honesty is valued above all else and real progress can be made in spite of the rest of the world, not because of it.

Graciously contributed to The Costa Rica Star by Dave Playfair.