This morning I was offered the “opportunity” to sell out. I was asked to do something that (if it worked out as my correspondent hoped) would make Alan Gottlieb and his “JPFO Lite” look better than they are. <\/p>\n
It would not change anything in any material way. It would not restore principle to JPFO or protect Aaron Zelman’s legacy.<\/p>\n
It was merely the opportunity to create an illusion — to have people say, “Hey, maybe Gottlieb’s not going to wreck JPFO after all!”<\/p>\n
And what would I<\/i> get for doing Mr. Manchin-Toomey (and not coincidentally, the correspondent proposing the idea) such a favor?<\/p>\n
Why, I’d get influence<\/i>. No, let’s capitalize that. I’d get Influence<\/i> — that much-craved prize of wheeler-dealers everywhere. If I just sold my integrity (which, after all, isn’t worth anything on the market), I might gain the privilege of suggesting to the new powers at JPFO Lite that (pardon my French) it might be better if, for now, they just chopped off one of JPFO’s b***s and not both.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
The proposal left me so disgusted that I blacklisted the correspondent’s email address then walked away from the computer. But it was also funny. And very instructive.<\/p>\n
The funny part was that I don’t actually think the person proposing the deed has any influence with Gottlieb. The two certainly know each other and I’d consider them birds of the same oily feather. But my correspondent himself is probably merely angling for influence with the new JPFO powers that be. Likely he imagined I might be of some small help getting him there.<\/p>\n
It’s also funny that he was so blind to the fact that anybody<\/i> who cared about principles would find his suggestion repugnant.<\/p>\n
Did my correspondent actually believe that I could change any unprincipled person for the better or prevent total sellout from becoming total catastrophe through Influence<\/i>? Or did he just believe that Influence<\/i> was so desirable that anyone would run panting after it?<\/p>\n
In any case, I got a glimpse into a certain type of mind — and afterward I wanted to scrub myself down with scouring powder.<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
The truth is — and every idealist should tattoo this on his or her brain — that on the vanishingly rare occasions that people of principle have any<\/i> influence on the powerfully unprincipled, it’s always from the outside.<\/p>\n
Always.<\/p>\n
When it happens at all it’s because we stood on the fringes pointing at them, calling attention to their misdeeds, and shaming them into better behavior. It’s because we put them under a spotlight. It’s not because we edged our way into their circles, nodded along with their yes-men, and made mild little suggestions about how maybe they could handle this or that little detail differently.<\/p>\n
It’s because we subjected them to public scorn to the point where they had to act differently than they intended and wanted to. <\/p>\n
When we succeed — and I repeat, it’s rare — they may despise us, they may plot even more blackguardly things in their shriveled little hearts, they may take the very next opportunity to do something even more unprincipled. But they momentarily have to change their behavior because our otherwise useless little consciences and principles created enough noise and light to force them to give in.<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
On the other hand, there are words for (formerly) principled idealists who imagine they’ll gain anything by joining the nodding crowd and toadying for Influence.<\/p>\n
Sucker.
\nFool.
\nSellout.
\nUnprincipled.
\nCollaborator.
\nMiserable failure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This morning I was offered the “opportunity” to sell out. I was asked to do something that (if it worked out as my correspondent hoped) would make Alan Gottlieb and his “JPFO Lite” look better than they are. It would not change anything in any material way. It would not restore principle to JPFO or protect Aaron Zelman’s legacy. It was merely the opportunity to create an illusion — to have people say, “Hey, maybe Gottlieb’s not going to wreck JPFO after all!” And what would I get for doing Mr. Manchin-Toomey (and not coincidentally, the correspondent proposing the idea)<\/p>\n