I’ve recently observed that there are numerous ways to become a villain. Of course, there always exists the old conventional ways that everyone knows about, but there’s another way too:

Simply insist, uncompromisingly, upon an unpleasant truth. That’s what I’ve done, publicly even, which now makes me the ‘very bad guy.’ Of course, it will be protested that it’s not that I’m insisting on the truth, but the way I’m going about it (exposing obvious lies and all that impolite stuff).

Now, mind you, I’m not talking about controversial topics where there is room for reasonable disagreement. I’m talking about the truth related to a serious, seemingly uncharacteristic harm that one person has caused another. The actual harm is unpleasant enough, but then, somehow, the truth becomes even more unpleasant than the actual harm it describes.

In this case, some portion of the truth is enough for some people; it’s all they want. And, once they’re satisfied with this portion of the truth, they turn from demanding the truth to supporting and defending what is, ultimately and in reality, a lie.

And whatever you do, keep it all quiet, please. It’s not so much that the victim doesn’t deserve to see the perpetrator subject to some degree of public scorn and shame, it’s really that more publicity simply equals a spotlight, and lies ultimately do not fare well under the spotlight. Nope. They do not like scrutiny.

Everyone requires a cool, damp, and dark place for their favorite lies.