Merit of dishonesty

As kids, we are taught - "honesty is the best policy" or something of that sort. That's probably the most dishonest lesson that I ever received. If anything, honesty is almost always the worst policy and even when it is not the worst, it still definitely is the one with the least benefits. The way we function in society is by the rule - the better you can lie, the lesser the chances of you getting caught, which in turn means the higher the likelihood of your success.

Let's take an example. Let's assume for a moment that killing humans for no fault of theirs is bad and that anyone who kills millions is a bad person. Then, it is undeniable that both Hitler and Churchill are bad. But let's see how we treat them. There was no baby born after 1945 named Adolf. Entire humanity dropped his name for his egregious crimes. Churchill on the other hand has statues, books by him that are still popular, books on him that are bestsellers, a Nobel prize for literature, the knighthood, and his quotes plastered all over the English books in about 60-70 countries that the Empire exploited and raped (even when he was the Prime Minister). So, for killing almost the same number of people, why do they get treated so differently? Well, Hitler was just too honest about it while Churchill was cruelly deceptive. Capturing citizens of your own country and killing them instantly in gas rooms is going to catch the eye. Killing people in "colonies" that are thousands of miles away by slowly starving them to death is a better way to commit genocide. The basic discovery of the truth in both cases differs by at least half a century. So, for the same crime, the better you lie the longer it will take to catch you and the more time you get to enjoy the life of the innocent (or in this case- a hero).

So, why not teach the kids to lie, to deceive, to cheat, to be dishonest? To be honest, that might help a lot of kids get started on dishonest practices quite early on and truly master dishonesty by the time they reach adolescence. Teaching them that they should be dishonest would help kids make sense of the real world with little effort. The world would be a lot simpler because you would just assume that everyone is dishonest and honest people are exceptions. There won't be any trust issues because everyone is supposed to be dishonest. No need for the fake offense because no one would share any honest opinion or thought. No room for real hurt as you won't be expecting honesty from anyone. Wouldn't the dishonest world be a more comfortable place to live in than the one where we struggle with honesty?