issue167 [越洋农场站队］第１０次作业 monkeycola

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TOPIC: ISSUE167 - "It is impossible for an effective political leader to tell the truth all the time. Complete honesty is not a useful virtue for a politician."
WORDS: 484          TIME: 0:45:00          DATE: 2006-8-3

The speaker assets that a effective leader could not always tell the truth, and honesty is not a useful virtue for a politician. I fundamentally agree with the assertion that at some special circumstance, a leader could not tell the truth to the public ,but it by no means that honesty is not a useful virtue for a politician. In fact, honesty is acrucial virtue for a politician which is the basis for the leader to win the trust and support from the people

At first, in some special situation, it is necessary and strategic for a politician not to tell the truth. Sometimes in order to protect the public safety or even the national security, an effective leader could not tell the truth to the public. If a leader at public tells a truth about a specific plan to thwart a group of terrorists or a person who smuggles drug, in the end the plan will prove to be failed which will cause threat to the public safety. For supporting examples, you do not have to look further than Roosevelt, the great president of the USA in the World War Two who conducted the atomic bomb research and without telling the truth to the public, finally the atomic bomb exploded in Japan accelerated the end of the war. If the president told the truth to the public about the research, people who were involved in this war would suffer for a longer time.

On the other hand, honesty is an essential and inalienable virtue for an effective leader. If a leader who is talented and capable, but he or she always tell lies to the public, obviously the leader will get no trust and support from people, and doom to be an ineffective leader. Let take another American president-Abraham Lincoln for example.Lincoln is very honest person, and with the virtue of honest he easily won the trust and support from the voter to be elected as a president of the United State. The “honest Abe” can vividly illustrate the good virtue of Lincoln.On the contrast, a leader who is dishonest is hard to gain the support from the public, and sometimes will cause public panic which is harmful for the society.

Finally, "not tell the truth" not equals to dishonest. A politician who not tell the truth means he or she could keep silent or talk roundabout the truth which is not equal to tell a lie. Although the politican does not tell the truth,he or she could still get the trust from people. However, if a politician who tell a lie to people means he or she belies the public which is hard to get the forgiveness by the people.

In sum, to be an effective leader sometimes it is necessary not tell the truth to the public at some particular circumstance. And complete honesty is a basic virtue for a politician.