Tell the Truth

Akira
The Don
He's got clout

One way of conceptualizing yourself is that you're one speak of dust amongst seven billion
And when you conceptualize yourself that way, you might think, well, what difference does it make what I say or do?
That's actually quiet convenient for you, because if it doesn't matter what you say or do then you don't have any responsibility and you can do whatever you want
The price you pay for that is a bit of nihilism but if you don't have to shoulder any responsibility that's a small price to pay

The other way of looking at it, and this is actually the accurate way to look at it, is that you're in a network, you're a node in a network
You can do a little bit of arithmetic very rapidly and just figure out how powerful you are
You know a thousand people, they know a thousand people, that means you're one person away from a million people, and two persons away from a billion people
You're the center of that network and now the way networks work is that information propagates in a network manner
So don't underestimate the power of your speech
Don't underestimate the power of truth, there's nothing more powerful

Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
Or at least don't lie, that's a start
Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
Or at least don't lie, that's a start

Now in order to speak what you might regard as the truth
You have to let go of the outcome
You have to think, I'm going to say what I think
Stupid as I am, biased as I am, ignorant as I am
I'm going to state what I think as clearly as I can
And I'm going to live with the consequences no matter what they are

Now the reason you think that, that's an element of faith
The idea is that nothing brings a better world into being than the stated truth
Now you might have to pay a price for that
But that's fine you're gonna pay a price for every bloody thing you do and everything you don't do
You don't get to choose to not pay a price
You get to choose which poison you're going to take, that's it!

So if you're going to stand up for something, stand up for your truth
It will shape you because will respond and object and tell you why you're a fool
Or a biased moron, why you're ignorant
And then if you'll listen to them, you'll be just that much less like that the next time you say something
And you do that for five years, you'll be so damn tough and articulate and able to communicate and withstand pressure that you won't even recognize yourself
And then you'll be a force to contend with

Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
Or at least don't lie, that's a start
Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
Or at least don't lie, that's a start

It's almost impossible to provide people with enough protection so that they feel safe to speak
Ok, so we'll address that directly
It is not safe to speak, and it never will be
The thing you got to keep in mind is that it's even less safe not to speak
Right? It's a balance of risk
You 'wannna pay the price for being who you are and stating your mode of being in the world
Or do you want to pay the price for being bloody serf?
A one that's enslaved him or herself
Well that's a major price man

That thing unfolds over decades, you'll just be a miserable worm at the end of about twenty years of that
No self-respect, no power, no ability to voice your opinions
Nothing left but resentment because everyone's against you
It's like say what you think carefully
Pay attention to your words
Say what you think carefully
Pay attention to your words
It's a price you 'wanna pay if you're willing to believe that truth is the corner stone of society, the most real sense
If you're willing to take that leap then tell the truth and see what happens

Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
Or at least don't lie, that's a start
Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth
Or at least don't lie, that's a start

Nothing better could possibly happen to you
There'll be ups and downs and there'll be pushback and it will be controversy and all of that
But it doesn't matter, the truth is what redeems the world from hell
And that's the truth
And we saw plenty of hell over the last 100 years, you know? And...
We haven't learned a bloody thing from that
It's like, wake up! wake up! wake up!