We are trained as children that telling the truth is an important element of being a good human being.

Children are encouraged to be honest and lying is frowned upon.

So far, so simple.

However the truth of the matter, is that honest children can become very unpopular if their truth telling is perceived as rude, unkind, disrespectful or embarrassing.

Truth is then redefined into truth, tact, manners and kindness in an attempt to stop the child calling out Aunty Joan's moustache or Uncle Anthony’s bad breath.

‘But they do have bad breath’ is no excuse for being ‘rude’ so the child’s understanding of truth is corrupted by their adult's discomfort in telling another adult that they have a stinky breath issue.

Thus the child's view of telling the truth is clouded by obfustication and, let us be honest, the adult's discomfort in telling the real truth.

Is it any wonder that people who grow up telling the truth become confused by the hostility telling the actual truth evokes?

It would seem, that in order to fit in, many people would rather live in a world dominated by half truths and denial, than face the stark reality of unvarnished truth.

Truth is uncomfortable and demands that we change. Humans hate change.

It has been acknowledged for ever, that truth tellers are not popular people.

Plato famously said ‘no one is more hated than he who speaks the truth’.

George Orwell said ‘during times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revoloutionary act…the further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it’.

Is truth regarded as hate speech? If so, by whom and why?

The answer if boiled down is not complex. Humans do not like to be embarrassed or uncomfortable.

We are much more likely to accept a comforting lie than an uncomfortable truth if it means that we can coast along in our little bubbles of denial pretending everything is rosy.

Being deprived of that sense of certainty is unsettling and usually means thinking deeply and honestly examining the facts rather than the emotions and desires.

It is hard, because after that uncomfortable self-reflection the requirement to adjust our behaviour accordingly and stand by our decisions and views in the face of popular opinion takes strength and courage.

Right now, telling the unvarnished truth has never been more important for the future of us all as individuals and as a country.

Without truth we will never resolve the issues faced by an increasingly impoverished, subjugated population being fed a barrage of propaganda and euphemisms.

We need to hold those in power, whether they be politicians, large organisations or media accountable, and demand the same standards of truth and integrity we expect from our school children.