"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."

"Politics is a dirty business.” That is a phrase that we’ve heard many times before, leading to the fact that many to believe that politicians are incapable of being honest. Honesty and ethics is an important element in politics, for the constituents of a society expect nothing less than the truth from the people they have elected into office. However, is complete honesty really a virtue for all aspects of the political sphere? The author of the topic statement above claims that it is impossible for an effective political leader to tell the truth all the time. I agree with the statement for there are some areas of politics where complete honesty is not applicable for it can compromise national safety as well as create a situation of mass panic.

Political leaders are often exposed to matters related to national security. Due to security reasons, complete honesty would not be a virtue. In a situation like this, the safety of the nation should be given top priority over people’s right to information. The safety of the nation would be compromised should information be leaked out to unscrupulous parties. Also, a country’s defense secrets are essential as it can create an illusion of strength to the eyes of the other nations. This was the tactic engaged by the U.S. nation and the Soviet Union and their allies during the Cold War. As much as citizens of the world idealize a world of harmony and open information between the nations, the fact is this: Each country is a separate entity with separate agendas. Each nation has their own interest to protect. To be entirely forthcoming with a country’s national secrets is to expose a country’s weakness to enemies who would use the opportunity to further their interests, possibly with underhanded means.

What about situations where national or state crisis are involved? Some years ago, the pipelines carrying petroleum had burst in California, thus affecting the supply of gasoline in Arizona. People reacted in panic to fear of gas shortage by filling up the gas tanks of the cars to the brim and hoarding additional gas supply in gasoline containers. There would have been sufficient gas supply to tide the state over until the pipelines was fixed but due to the reaction of panic and hoarding the supply of gas ran out earlier than anticipated. That is simply one illustration of the reaction of people in urgent situations. Members of a society, especially in large masses, react to contingency situations in unpredictable ways that could be detrimental to the well being of the society. Complete honesty in situations of national crisis could potentially produce situations of mass panic and chaos, which can impede corrective actions or policies. Honesty is a virtue. However, a politician should have the discretion of deciding the level of honesty that is needed by the society without causing mass panic.

In conclusion, it is not beneficial for a politician to tell the truth all the time. As illustrated above, there are some situations where complete honesty is not a virtue for it can compromise national security and create an environment of panic and chaos that is detrimental to the health of a society.

(Time: 1 hour)