I Read a Book: Part I - Lying

I recently read Sam Harris' little book called Lying. The premise is simple, but powerful. Don't lie, ever.

The book is more a long, persuasive essay than a philosophical or ethical treatise. Rather than analyze the moral implications of dishonesty, he assesses the impact of dishonesty with an "Instant Karma" perspective. Specifically, when you lie, he considers how it directly affects you and your relationships with those around you.

He directly attacks "white lies" as arrogance. Much like Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men," we assume the target of the lie can't handle the truth. Most people prefer to avoid conflict than to deliver bad news, so we lie for convenience.

Harris gave an example of a friend who asked him to give his opinion of a book he'd been working on for over a year. Harris admits that it was hard to deliver the bad news, but he said that his friend soon abandoned the book to work on other projects, and he has been successful since the initial setback. He would have done his friend no favors by encouraging him to work on a book that had little to no chance of success. Instead, he redirected and redoubled his efforts on more fruitful projects. Now, his friend goes to him first when he wants an opinion, because he knows that if Harris says something is good, he's being sincere.

When you're honest, you tend to have a more open relationship with everyone around you, whether they are a casual or close acquaintance. He gave another example of re-entering the US after he'd been traveling in India and Nepal. The border guard asked if he'd he done drugs when he was abroad, and he answered yes, he'd smoked pot and tried opium. Predictably, the guard searched his bags. But he recalls that he had a long, candid conversation about his experiences on his trip, where the guard opened up to him about some of his own experiences, and that the guard was warm and pleasant throughout the search.

The question of whether to be honest is more complicated when honesty will get you in trouble in real time. If you've been drinking and driving, and a police officer pulls you over and asks if you've been drinking, and you answer honestly, you may go to jail.  But this corollary may provide additional incentive to avoid behaviors that you aren't comfortable discussing honestly with everyone around you.   It's hard to be honest with your spouse if you're unfaithful. That's just one more reason to avoid infidelity.

The book was simplistic, of course. It's easy to think of extreme counter-examples where lying would probably be beneficial in an instant karma sense. But it is also true that I have lied too often in the past for the sake of convenience. After reading this book, it's a habit I'll seek to avoid.

Why Denver dumped the 1976 Winter Olympics

A couple of years ago, Chicago spent in excess of $50 million to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. In their corner: Barack Obama, recently elected president, international superstar and Nobel Laureate. They had the most developed infrastructure of any city in the bidding. But they still couldn't make it happen. Despite all their resources and glad-handing, the OC picked Rio de Janeiro instead.

So why would a city reject the opportunity to host the Olympics? Because, back in the early 1970s, Denver, Colorado, wasn't trying to market itself to the rest of the world. Denver was trying to keep the rest of the world out.  It seems almost inconceivable today, but back then, Colorado's most powerful political forces got elected on an anti-growth platform.  And if your primary focus is anti-growth, you don't want the Olympics coming to town.

In 1970, Denver was awarded the Olympics, outbidding a number of other larger cities, including most recent Winter Games host Vancouver, Canada. Colorado has always rightfully had renown as an epic Winter playground, so it wasn't a huge surprise. What did come as a surprise was the political reaction internally.

Denver has always had a "close-the-door-behind-you" attitude. Colorado is the only state where it is common to advertise, on bumper stickers, that you are a "native." What does native mean, in this context? That your family has been in Colorado for one whole generation!  For most of the world, this would be a ludicrous thing to boast.  The vast majority of people come from the same place that their parents do. But not here. Colorado's population is over 5 million now, according to the 2010 census. But in 1970, it was only a little more than 2 million.  In 1940, it was right around 1 million. Ever since it became a state, Colorado's population has at least doubled every 35 years or so. 

As such, Colorado has always had anti-transplant sentiment. But one man made a career out of it better than any other. And so, in 1972, a hot shot young lawyer and accountant named Dick Lamm started raising a stink about the Olympics.

Not that young or hot shotty anymore

Lamm sparked a movement to turn the main bond issue to fund the 1976 Olympics into a public referendum. In November 1972, he made it happen, and the state’s voters got to choose whether to authorize a $5 million bond issue to help finance the Games.

Colorado, long home to aggressive anti-government and anti-tax movements, wanted nothing to do with it. The voters body-slammed the proposition by 60-40 margin. One week later, Denver officially abdicated its status as host city for the 1976 Olympics.

Dick Lamm later was elected governor of Colorado three times, largely catapulted by the political capital he earned in sending the games to Innsbruck, Austria.  He was famous for trying to kill the construction of C-470 (an essential roadway circumventing the city) and pretty much every other major public works project that was proposed during his tenure.

Shortly after he left office, Colorado finished C-470, embarked on plans to build E-470 (the other half of the circumvention project), began construction on a a massive new airport and a baseball stadium, all while completely refurbishing the main arteries going through Denver.  And Denver's population started skyrocketing once again.

Since then, Denver has tried on multiple occasions to reignite a movement to host the Olympics. They've never made it past the early bidding stages.  And probably never will.