Along the Rio Grande in southwestern New Mexico, there’s a fine little city that is the seat of Sierra County government. It used to be called Hot Springs, because of the water percolating up from geothermal heat. But some seven decades back, the community decided to be known instead as Truth or Consequences, more or less to draw attention to itself.
At the time, “Truth or Consequences” was the name of a radio show – and when its popularity began to wane, around 1950, the producers came up with a publicity gimmick: They would broadcast an episode from the first community to legally change its name to match the show. So Hot Springs, New Mexico stepped up; community leaders were sure this would bring back the tourists that used to sustain the local economy. And, sure enough, the name change got the town on the air coast-to-coast. Sadly, it didn’t do much to draw people to the hot springs. But it is today a handy reminder, right there on the map, that there are consequences to our actions.
We seem to need it – that reminder that absent truth, there are consequences.
Take, for example, the looming impasse between the White House and Congress over raising the debt ceiling. Here’s a truth: According to a study last year, not raising the debt limit and defaulting on our national debt would plunge the nation into recession, costing perhaps six million jobs and erasing 15 trillion dollars in wealth as the stock market crashes. Then our government would have to make unimaginable choices — say, whether to issue Social Security checks or pay the federal workforce.
It’s important to note that the debt limit has nothing to do with current Democratic ambitions to reshape the economy by bolstering the middle class. No, the nation’s debt is mostly a result of decisions made under previous administrations — including a 7-point-8 trillion-dollar debt increase during the Trump administration, mostly because of huge tax cuts that weren’t offset by any curbs on spending.
By the way, another truth: Only two presidents grew the debt more than Trump, as a percentage of the total economy: Abraham Lincoln, who used debt to finance the Civil War, and George W. Bush, who didn’t want current taxpayers to have to pay for his post-9/11 military incursions. Donald Trump gave us record peacetime debt: that’s a truth.
Every member of Congress surely recognizes that the debt is a consequence of actions by both political parties over the years. It’s said that Kevin McCarthy and Joe Biden both want to be seen as the “adults in the room.” And, you know, psychologists say that understanding that actions have consequences is a fundamental element of the path to adulthood.
But listen to this, from the British education theorist Robert Fisher. He wrote:
“As children become adults, there is an increasing tendency to closed-mindedness, where” – Robert Fisher wrote – “beliefs are ego-centered (and) …those who disagree are regarded as biased and as not having the capacity to enter into a reasoned and open-ended discussion.”
Reasoning across disagreements through open-ended discussion: that used to be the way decisions were reached in our democracy, of course. But that breaks down if our leaders won’t engage, and refuse to act.
It's simply not possible that the House Republicans who are threatening to not approve the debt ceiling hike are willing to force those terrible consequences on the country. So maybe this has more to do with the other half of the “Truth or Consequences” equation. Maybe this is a function of the Republican party’s campaign against truth in recent years…
…the claims by most Republican candidates last year that the 2020 election of Joe Biden was a result of fraud…
…the notion that Donald Trump isn’t to blame for the assault on the capitol – you know, 6 in 10 Republicans around the country falsely blame the attack on liberals and left-wing activists…
…the preposterous assertion from Ron DeSantis, who poses as a moderate, that those who stand for LGBTQ rights are “grooming” kids to be gay…
…and the daily undercutting of truth by Fox News personalities and other right-wing commentators.
When there is so much deviation from the truth, people begin to believe there are no consequences to whatever outrages are being perpetrated.
Our nation faces grave challenges, including the effects of climate change, the reality of economic injustice, the threat to western values posed by totalitarian regimes… and the many other dangers of a world that cries out for the moral leadership of a stable democratic nation. But if we cannot recognize truth and embrace its consequences – even about something as fundamental as paying our accumulated debts – we will be lost.
This is not a show or a game, and it’s not about getting attention. It is about whether we Americans are willing to put up with leaders who play so fast and loose with the truth … and who don’t take seriously the consequences of that posture.
Rex Smith, the co-host of The Media Project on WAMC, is the former editor of the Times Union of Albany and The Record in Troy. His weekly digital report, The Upstate American, is published by Substack.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.