We are lost without sincerity. To be immersed in lies; to constantly dissemble; to be treated as an object for someone else's purposes; is to find our selves in the utmost precarity. An apocryphal tale whose source I can no longer remember sticks with me. It's of a moment of first encounter between a North American and some "Discoverer," some hell-bent treasure-hunter arriving on these shores with visions of gold and spices and slaves to be had. The chief is summoned. He takes one look at this alien visitor and strikes him dead with his ceremonial club.