Réal Laplaine's Blog, page 3

If one steps back and looks at the scene in Russia today, taking an average Russian family, Olga and Ivano and their two kids, do you really think that Olga wants to send her husband off to kill Ukrainians because she personally wants to take over the Ukraine in the name of “Mother Russia”.

Do you really think that Ivano wants to die somewhere in Ukraine and never see his kids again, that his “loyalty” to Russia runs so deep that he would sacrifice his life to expand the “empire”.

I don’t think so. Not any more than Jane and Joe, in Milwaukee, having deep aspirations for the U.S. to take Greenland, Canada or the Gaza, as if either of those wild and crazy aspirations, would benefit their lives.

These wars, these acts of aggression are NEVER the aspirations of the individual Russian or American - they are agendas driven by and pawned off on a populace by ego-centric sociopaths and their supporters, like Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

I dare say that Olga and Ivano would prefer to live a calm and happy life and watch their kids grow up, and that Jane and Joe in Milwaukee have the same notion about their lives.

To get people to run off to other lands, to kill people they don’t know and who are not a threat to them personally, requires propaganda and a real brain-job. Putin is a master at deception because he cuts off all the other information channels, the media and internet, and he controls the narrative, the story being fed to Olga and Ivano about how their “brothers and sisters” in Ukraine, (who Putin is currently murdering by the thousands) need to be freed from the “Nazi” state regime. All lies, but then again, when you don’t have access to the truth, what conclusion do Olga and Ivano come to? Play ball or end up in a Russian state prison somewhere?

Trump is busily doing the same thing right now. While he casts out delusional agendas to move into other territories that do not belong to him, he is busily arranging all the ducks around him so that no one can defy him, getting rid of the “surplus” and of course, decrying any media that says anything about him that tarnishes his idea of his “perfection”. Jane and Joe, in Milwaukee, still have the freedom of choice - search for the truth, or buy Trump’s version and that of his mouthpieces at FOX News and elsewhere.

Trump has clearly declared himself ABOVE the law, and the American system has bowed to him, having cancelled all the legal cases and pronouncements about his proven criminal activities (which costs the taxpayers HUNDREDS of millions of dollars in legal costs) - all of which simply lends to a dictatorial state - just like Putin in Russia, where no one will act or speak up against him.

When I look at the Ukraine war, at the thousands upon thousands who died, both civilian and military, I know that most of those Russian soldiers are not fighting and killing in Ukraine because they believe what Putin has rammed down their throats; they are simply fighting to survive, more or less like Stalin’s Order 227 during WW II - “Not a step back” - where you either fought, or if you retreated, the Russian command would put a bullet in your head on the spot.

I think that Olga and Ivano have a lot in common with Joe and Jane - the only difference being that Trump has not yet escalated up to a full dictatorship - but he’s on that road and Americans need to wake up to that reality before he reaches the point where he can call in the military, the Army Reserve and the privatized security forces to keep the American population at bay - because you know, “Trump knows what is best for everyone.”

Réal Laplaine

Author of high-concept thrillers

www.reallaplaine.com

In my newly released book, V.O.I.C.E. - The Silence is Over, there was a critical spot in the story where I had to select a location for an international forum, one that was neutral to all the geopolitical powers involved, and Sweden's Chalmer's University of Technology, located in Gothenburg, won.

This is of particular interest to Swede's, but since it is also one of my favorite spots in the city, located across from the main center, and just a short hop on a very nice ferry ride across the channel, it was worthy of mention.

Check out V.O.I.C.E. - a high-concept thriller that delves deep into the human paradigm and our place in the stars.

Réal Laplaine

Author of high-concept thrillers

www.reallaplaine.com

I’d like to offer some perspective on leadership, which became more evident to me in recent times with the disproportionate number of dangerous people in positions of power today. I don’t have to name them, anyone can see them.

Leaders come into power essentially through 3 means:

They are elected based on their rhetoric, promises and lies, the popular system in vogue in the United States and other nations where just about anyone can prance on the stage, make all manner of promises, sling mud at their opponents, and win a popular vote, not based on their skills as a leader, but their words.

They were next in line and stepped into the shoes because someone expired, died or resigned.

They are dictators and simply took office using force.

I propose a 4th and new school of thought when it comes to leadership roles, and offer it up by way of an example.

Imagine, you go to the hospital, you’re in pain, you need treatment or surgery to save your life, or the life of a loved one, and the “doctor” who presents himself/herself is not certified, but achieved that position by claiming they were a good doctor. In other words, they were never schooled, tested or licensed. Would you put your life in their hands?

You step on a commercial flight and discover that the pilot has never been trained for the job. He just talked his way into the position - no training, no testing, nothing. Would you fly in that plane?

A person claiming to be an engineer, but who has never been trained or certified as one, is building a bridge nearby your home. Would you cross it when completed? Would you trust that it was structurally sound?

The point here is that we permit people into leadership roles without one iota of training, testing or certification which assures that they are qualified and capable of performing the job - and yet leaders are responsible for entire nations, millions of lives and have the power to start wars, or end them with THE war.

Why is that?

Why does society set stringent requirements for people in medical fields, engineering, commercial piloting, many fields, and yet there is not a single bar required for a leadership role, particularly one that affects millions of lives.

Of course, by democratic standards, anyone should be permitted to stand on a soapbox and declare his or her leadership aims, but why do we permit them in the front door, particularly in leadership roles which affect millions of lives, without first requiring that they:

a. Have been trained for the job.

b. Have demonstrated actual leadership and diplomatic skills.

c. Are not themselves criminal.

d. Lastly and most importantly, they have passed the acid test demonstrating they are not a sociopathic personality, someone who is solely interested in power in order to accomplish their own selfish aims.

To accomplish a-c above, is simply to establish a bar, like any bar set for a doctor or pilot; basic training, schooling and testing that ensures they know what leadership is truly all about and they have demonstrated they can do the job before being certified. This being a basic requirement for anyone to be considered as a candidate for a city, regional, state or national role as a leader.

As to d) this is another factor, how do you determine if someone is a hidden sociopath, because we know, from studying them, that sociopaths are extremely capable at hiding their true motivations. Sociopaths have no remorse, they don’t feel guilt for anything they do and this makes them extremely dangerous in positions of power. They are accomplished actors, they know how to smokescreen, divert attention, how to gaslight and turn attention from themselves to others by creating forest fires and disruption. So, how do we expose them before they get into positions of power where they have the means of abusing that power?

The answer is pretty simple. The one thing that a sociopath CANNOT do is to truly help other people. Helping others defies their very existence, because a sociopath has no interest in seeing others get better - they want people subjugated and under their control. The bar, should include the necessity that the candidate offering himself or herself up for a position of leadership, must present sufficient evidence of having helped improve the lives of other people, of their community or their nation - and that help must be given over a sufficient time period to show that it is real and not fake, it should not be help in the form of financial support because anyone can do that, it must not be done through a proxy nor must they claim the work of others as their own. In other words, the acid test is CAN THEY HELP OTHERS - and this test alone is the one thing that a sociopath cannot fake. It truly defies everything they stand for, and if closely inspected, no matter what wealth or success they claim, will expose those who are not eligible to be good leaders.

Society expects professionals to have met and passed certain standards and to be certified for those professions - so why are we not doing the same with leaders? Why are we permitting people into positions of power who simply make claims, who use rhetoric and verbal abuse to win their way into offices of power which cause harm to people?

Obviously, such criteria wouldn’t necessarily be applicable to leadership roles such as the manager of a store, restaurant franchise, coach of a basketball team or even CEO of a company - but when we move into the realm of who we permit or elect to lead a city, a state, a nation or a global-level entity, it is suicidal not to take measures to ensure that those people pass the bar, a bottom line, before being permitted to have the power to affect millions, even billions of lives.

Four simple steps, managed by a certification board at city, regional, state and national level would establish standards of leadership - and while it might not be a perfect system, it is without a doubt one that will provide us with better leaders and less social disruption. And of course, those certifying the leaders, must themselves have passed a-d above.

Réal Laplaine

Author of high-concept thrillers

www.reallaplaine.com

This is an extract from the preface to my book, Deception People, where Dr. Carlton Faber, a neurological specialist, and a graduate of King’s College at the London School of Medicine, is lecturing a group of students on the subject of who we are:

“We just stepped across a threshold which is a quagmire – where some believe we are a soul, while others believe we have a soul, while others believe we are just mud and when we die, we return to being mud. So, for the purpose of this talk, let us not confuse the issue with semantics, significances, or religious ideology – we are speaking about science here, not belief systems, and science is about observable and provable facts.” He waves his hand across the room. ‘How many people here have experienced this scenario: you are sitting in a restaurant, a pub, on the metro, somewhere, and you suddenly become aware that someone is looking at you? You cannot see the person, but you sense that someone in the crowd is looking at you?’

Many in the audience raise their hands or nod.

‘On a purely physical level there is no scientific reason you should have had any perception of that person. Our bodies are, according to authoritative sources, are not tuned to such a frequency, whatever it is, and yet, you turn your head and sure enough a stranger is watching you from across the room. What is that?’

He pauses to let it sink in.

‘We tend to relegate this phenomenon to something called the Sixth Sense – in other words, it does not classify as a normal body perception such as taste, smell or tactile – it is something different, something quite inexplicable. In fact, I have no doubt that there are men in this very audience right now who have gawked at a pretty lady, somewhere, only to feel chagrin when she suddenly turned to look right at you. How did she know that you were admiring her? What is the perceptible energy that causes two people to perceive one another under completely tacit and intangible circumstances?’

‘Science has no explanation for it. It is just casually dismissed as another “sense,” the “paranormal” – what have you, because it does not fit into any neat paradigm.”

‘But you see, any scientist worth his salt cannot, will not, dismiss discrepancies which do not fit into his or her formulas. If an engineer, building the bridges across which millions must safely cross every year, simply dismissed small inexplicable details which they could not explain, we would have structures collapsing all around us. They cannot afford the luxury of casual dismissal – and in my mind, neither can we when it comes to explaining our existence.’

He turns and points to the projection on the screen.

‘We evaluated this further and discovered that the pineal gland does respond to a force which cannot be measured based on pure mechanical energy. Our research, so far, suggests that there is a force, quite separate from the body, which coexists within or outside the body, a type of energy which tends to channel in the direction of the pineal gland. Call it the spirit, the soul, the existential life-force, the Unquantifiable – whatever floats your boat – something else is there in the mix and it does not measure up on the same scales of quantifiability that science is accustomed to using. We have not yet established how the pineal gland translates or interprets this energy, but our research reveals so far that the interaction of this force with the pineal results in neuropathic signals which then travel into the body – resulting in the manifestations we take for granted, such as walking, moving our arms, speaking, et al.’

He pauses.

‘Sadly, we are hampered by limitations in technology. If you consider the refined nature of the electromagnetic waves which interact with your phone every day, with that CPU within it, imagine then how refined this energy must be which is capable of being detected by the pineal gland and reinterpreted into synaptic commands which are then passed through the neuro-highways of your body? How fine must that energy be that our own understanding of quantum mechanics does not yet permit us to measure its existence with finite accuracy?’

“And…” he raises a finger to the air, “if we are souls, or whatever semantic version of that concept you accept, then the very essence of who we are, its unquantifiability as a force, and yet one so powerful that it can build whole civilizations and send people into space, and yet, remains largely undetectable, remains the mystery of all mysteries.”

Dr. Faber paused to let his words sink in.

‘Adding to this research, we conducted experiments using numerous human corpses. We discovered, as have others before us, that at the precise instant of body death something vacates its vicinity. . While there is a measurable, although very tiny amount of brain activity which goes on after death and even some cellular activity, purely on a level of plasmic shut down – something else has left the scene. It is quantifiable. When you compare that to a living person, and you measure the degree of energy, however minute, which exists within the cranium, and even around it, it suggests that another presence is there – one which no longer is present when the shell, the body, expires.’

He smiles and holds up a tiny microchip between his thumb and forefinger.

‘If we can develop this, a microchip which is capable of such sensitivity that it can pluck out from the billions of wavelengths circling the globe, the precise and exact algorithms which you have just requested of it each time you press a button – why wouldn’t that paradigm exist within the human brain? A functionality, an organ, which is sensitive to a specific type of wavelength, one that is so small, and yet, so powerful, that it can be interpreted into the commands which we use to interact with our body and the world around us?’

He makes a dismissive flick of his hand.

‘Of course, we could just cast this off as another theory and stay the course with the popular ones – but it is my belief that by holding to such ideas that we are enabling a regressive mentality – much the same as those who believe the world is flat, despite ample evidence to the contrary. And I have yet to see a Petri dish with a sampling of the human brain, on its own, without any outside influence, vocalize a thought, or pick up a paint brush and create a masterpiece, or author a poem. It is just cellular goop – and without something to tell that goop what to do, it remains goop.’

He points at the screen, bringing a montage of faces up to view.

“The credibility of any scientific discovery is when it starts to answer other questions and unknowns. Let us take the subject of past lives, for instance. Scientific authorities are not comfortable speaking about or even giving credence to past lives because it unsettles extant theories they use or are pitching. Try to convince the pharmaceutical industry of past lives and they will definitely recommend Prozac or such – because it unsettles their platform, that we are just goop; and by fixing our goop we are better. But, to countless thousands, if not even millions of people, past lives are a reality, and there are documented accounts on record, details which cannot be discarded to a pile called “paranormal” just because they do not fit into existing scientific explanations, supporting the veracity of past lives.” He presses the laser-pointer and brings up a picture of a young boy. “This boy,” he points, “at the age of six, started drawing pictures, detailed pictures of battle scenes, with planes and warships. When his parents asked him about it, he told them he was a pilot during World War II, while pointing to his drawings and identifying the names of other pilots he claimed were in his squadron. The parents accepted it as mere imagination, but over several years, the boy’s obsession reached a point where the parents decided to look into the matter, and to their shock, the name he referred to, as his past-life self during a battle he claimed to have waged over the South Pacific, and the names of his comrades in his squadron, all checked out. The details of the battle he described, without having himself studied it, checked out. They even contacted Japanese authorities to verify certain details about the battle which were not documented by American historians, and once again, to their shock, the Japanese confirmed every detail. In short, the boy’s story, of their heroic battle, which ended in the deaths of himself and his fellow pilots, was fact, not fiction, and a ceremony was eventually conducted by Japanese authorities to help acknowledge the battle.”

Dr. Faber turned to the group. “Amazingly, when the boy received full acknowledgement of the veracity of his past life experience, he stopped talking about it and went on to live a “normal” life.” He smiled. “This story is one of countless on record, where people have demonstrated that past lives is a reality, and certainly not paranormal.”

He picked up a thick sheaf and waved it at them.

‘Our research, though not complete, demonstrably proves two things. There is a force, or energy, operating within or around the human body, which emanates from outside the brain itself – and this force disappears at or around the time of body death. That is an unequivocal fact – one that is not explained by any scientific paradigm. Secondly, the focal point of this energy is the pineal gland. How that energy exactly interacts, and how the pineal translates it into the physical manifestations within the body, suggests that there is an interface of some sort – like the chip in your phone – subject to more research.’

He drops the sheaf of papers to the podium with a thud. ‘It is an amazing discovery – one which will inevitably lead to even greater ones.’

Faber pressed the remote causing a large question mark to appear on the screen.

‘Philosophers and even the Ancients before us, possessing no apparent technology with which to prove their ideas, knew about the pineal gland, and they referred to it as, the “Third Eye” or the “Seat of the Soul.” Why did they think that? Did they know something we do not?’

He paused to look at the audience.

‘Thank you.’

No one believed him. In fact, they wanted to shut him up because of what he knew so they locked him away in a high-security mental institution. Troy Evans tripped across something he wasn't supposed to know about, in fact, no one was, until the day it happened - an event that would make 9/11 look like a Sunday stroll in the park. One person however, his psychiatrist, eventually realizes that Troy isn't mentally deranged as the authorities claimed  - and at that moment, they become the most hunted people in America as they try to find someone who will listen before it is too late.

​

"Deception People. Telling the truth can be fatal, is the first of a series of books that is a well written, intriguing, action-packed thriller with a supernatural twist that I thoroughly enjoyed. If you like Patriot Games and The Bourne Identity, I recommend this book."

Sweden vs Russia - Sweden's future in the rising conflict

It’s worth commenting here that Sweden faces a very interesting future with Putin’s Russia on the land grab.

With Russian naval and military bases roughly 450 kilometers across the Baltic Sea, a short hop for them to reach Stockholm and the eastern coast, or barely a minute or two for ballistic missiles to arrive, Sweden finds itself in a position it has not had to worry about for a very long time. The nation has not been engaged in a war for over 200 years. It steered clear of being a member of NATO for decades, until this year, 2024, when it became apparent that Vladimir Putin was out to restore the “glory” of the former USSR (Soviet Communist nation) with the Ukraine being his first stop and was casting all manner of threats, including toward peaceful Sweden.

Of course, no one plans to let Putin win in Ukraine, except Donald Trump who is actively advocating that President Zelensky concede and let Putin have more land which he grabbed and destroyed in the process. Anyone with an ounce of common sense, which Trump lacks, knows that if you concede to Putin and sign a peace treaty, he will simply send in his agents of chaos to disrupt what remains of the Ukraine government, like he did during the 2014 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, during which time he invaded and sequestered Crimea. His provocateurs will stir up dissent and help divide the Ukrainians politically, and then he will resume his assault and finish what he started. Once he does that, he will set his eyes on the other former USSR states, such as Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland etc.

Trump doesn’t care about Ukraine. In his books, it is America First, and he knows that the United States is protected by two oceans on each side - so no big deal if he cuts arms supplies to the Ukraine defenders and leaves it up to the other NATO states to fight the fight.

However, if Putin pushes across the border of a NATO nation, he automatically declares war against all NATO members and that starts another domino-effect. Sweden is in a very precarious situation. Since the 1989/90 fall of the USSR - when its member states declared independence and became democracies, Sweden has let its defenses dwindle, letting bomb shelters fall into disuse and such, until recently; and while the government is now pouring in big bucks to build up a decent military presence, it is nothing compared to Russia’s, nor would it be able to repel a large scale invasion.

Sweden offers a unique strategic advantage to Putin, with a huge coastal presence on all sides, with which the Russians could dominate the Baltic as well as the North Sea, which would give them a military advantage against Britain (a stone’s throw across the North Sea), Denmark to the south, as well as Germany.

Sweden is wise to re-up its military presence and moreover, should change its policy regarding training and arming its civilian populace into an active and mobile militia - because like the Ukrainian people, Swedes may find themselves forced to fight for their freedom and their culture - and without the means of doing so, it will be like shooting ducks for the Russians.

We can sit here and assume that because Sweden is now part of NATO that this will protect them from a Russian invasion, but in truth, a land-grabbing sociopath such as Putin, like all his predecessors, fueled by a power-hungry passion to take what is not his to take, will see Sweden as easy-pickings if he decides to take on NATO and can mobilize a military presence within hours - probably faster than NATO can respond.

I’m not a doomsday person, I am a realist, but given the circumstances, and I live in Sweden although I come from across the pond, and given a war that has waged now, for nearly three years in Ukraine and has no end in sight, it’s best to be realistic about it and prepare, because as the old saying goes: if you’re prepared for the worst, the worst doesn’t happen.

Réal Laplaine

Author of high concept & speculative fiction thrillers

www.reallaplaine.com

Now that Iran is officially in the conflict, lobbing warheads into Israel - it raises an interesting question - who benefits most from this conflict?

First, it was Israel taking on the Hamas, then it was Israel taking on Hezbollah, Iran's proxy army, by invading Lebanon, and now Iran is officially in the fight.

The United States remains a staunch supporter of Israel, despite its atrocities against the Palestinian and Lebanese people, feeding it a constant stream of weapons to fight its “enemies” - but again, we all know that the U.S.A. does not want to lose its strongest ally in the Middle East - so they will inevitably be pulled into this new front between Israel and Iran, which means more financing and more weapons - a lot more.

As the Middle East conflict escalates, it means the United States will now be forced into weaponizing two fronts, Ukraine and Israel - and that means less for one of them, and you guessed it, probably less for Ukraine.

So, who benefits from that?

The little man in the Kremlin, of course, who probably engineered the initial conflict between Israel and Hamas, arranging the kidnapping of Israeli citizens in the knowledge the Israel would be looking for provocation to start an all-out assault against the Hamas, which in turn would bring the Hezbollah into the fight, and ultimately, Iran - and that would weaken the United States' stance in the Ukraine - all to his advantage.

The Russian regime, under Vladimir Putin, a former KGB boss man, is really good at disruption. They know how to start fires and distract people from the true issues and causes.

If someone bothers to search and dig deep enough, they will probably find Russian hands in the Middle East mix - because there can be no doubt that Russia will benefit from this escalating war.

Article by,

Réal Laplaine

Author of high concept & speculative fiction thrillers

www.reallaplaine.com

In a recent statement, Donald Trump said this about Ukraine:

“Any deal — the worst deal — would’ve been better than what we have now,” Trump said. “If they made a bad deal it would’ve been much better. They would’ve given up a little bit and everybody would be living and every building would be built and every tower would be aging for another 2,000 years.”

Of course, Trump is suggesting that Ukraine concede to the invasion from Russia and give up more of their territory as a concession towards peace. Besides the fact that this approach already proved a total failure in 2014 when Putin invaded the Crimea, part of the Ukraine, and commandeered it for Russia, and no one did anything because it was considered he would stop there, of course he didn’t - and eight years later he invaded Ukraine again.

Trump, besides being utterly naive about the mentality of a dictator such as Vladimir Putin, is casually suggesting that an entire nation of free people should just hand over a chunk of their nation to the maniacal dictator.

I would like to suggest that since Donald Trump considers this an acceptable “solution” for the Ukraine people, that on the same token, he should be willing to hand over Alaska to the Russians, since Putin wants it so badly - and in so doing, ameliorate tensions between the two nations. I am certain that the American people would agree with having a large part of their country carved out and handed over to a dictator to “avoid” the possibility of conflict. Right?

So, what do you say, Trump - sound reasonable to you? Is that a platform you could sell to your following? Would that win you a seat in the Oval? Or would the American people see you for the hypocrite you are?

Article by

Réal Laplaine

Author of high concept thrillers

www.reallaplaine.com

I recently watched a video presentation about Expo ‘67 in Montreal, Canada, and this wonderful presentation reminded me just how impactful that event was on my life, and millions of others too. Some of you may have been there or remember it.

Two years later, when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, I knew that I had a mission in life, to inspire the world through the arts - and in my case, the goddess of writing became my passion.

Anyhow, to this day, Expo ‘67 is still considered the greatest of Expos.

Réal Laplaine

Author of high concept thrillers

www.reallaplaine.com

Noah Webster, of Websters dictionaries, defined integrity back in 1828 in his American Dictionary of the English Language as follows:

“Integrity comes from integer, which is itself defined as “The whole of any thing.”

“Wholeness; entireness; unbroken state” … “The entire, unimpaired state of anything, particularly of the mind, moral soundness or purity; incorruptness, uprightness; honesty.”

The concept has lost considerable luster over the years when one considers corruption weaving our culture today where men in power abuse it to kill innocent children and civilians and hide behind religious ideology and pretense to do so; where corporate and financial greed and dishonesty dictate the quality of our lives; and where insane and narcissistic men can be voted into power and disrupt the very democracy and freedom that generations of our forefathers fought to give us.

If we analyze the word integrity, wouldn’t we come to the following semantical interpretations?

Integrity means doing the right thing even when nobody is looking.

Integrity means doing the right thing even when no one else is.

Integrity is doing the right thing because it resonates from within us and not because of rules, moral codes, laws, or even collective acceptability.

Integrity is doing the right thing even if it causes pain, loss or grievance to yourself or another.

Considering that the word integrity embraces the essence of who we really all are deep inside, that is, whole and perfect, not broken or born evil or corrupt as some would have us believe, it is a word that should be taught and embraced by new generations who will continue to build and develop society - and if they understand the importance of this word, they will, hopefully, be able to make an even better world, one where transparency dominates and where corruption simple cannot hide its ugly face.

Réal Laplaine

Author of high-concept thrillers

www.reallaplaine.com

The word integrity is very easily watered down, depending on what agenda it serves to soften up the edges of a word which represents an absolute, not a gray zone.

Let’s look at what Noah Webster, of Websters dictionaries, who defined the word back in 1828 in his American Dictionary of the English Language as follows:

“Integrity comes from integer, which is itself defined as “The whole of any thing.”

“Wholeness; entireness; unbroken state” … “The entire, unimpaired state of anything, particularly of the mind, moral soundness or purity; incorruptness, uprightness; honesty.”

The concept has lost considerable luster over the years when one considers corruption weaving our culture in politics, where politicians make vast promises in their campaign speeches which they do not intend to accomplish; where men in power abuse it to kill innocent children and civilians and hide behind religious ideology and pretense to do it; corporate greed and dishonesty, and even the middle of the road culture, where, for instance today, watching women and young girls being sexually abused in modern day porn, now dubbed “adult entertainment” an “acceptable” euphemism for an industry that manipulates people for money and has become normalized and acceptable in our culture, or where insane and narcissistic men can run for Presidency and be voted into office by the general public; and more. It’s time to add a little beef to this very important word.

Integrity should encompass the following:

Doing the right thing even when nobody is looking.

Doing the right thing even when no one else is.

Doing the right thing because it resonates from within you and not because of rules, moral codes, laws, or even collective acceptability.

Doing the right thing even if it causes pain, loss or grievance to yourself or another.

That would be a more complete conceptualization of the word, and anything less is simply a compromise with a word which speaks to the wholeness of who we really are.

Réal Laplaine

Author of high-concept thrillers

www.reallaplaine.com