Friday, July 6, 2007
The Hypocrisy Charge
Pundits get a lot of mileage out of using charges of hypocrisy against politicians. John Edwards, for example, cannot be truly for the poor because of his haircuts. Al Gore isn't really for the environment if he runs up an exorbitant energy bill. A quick appeal to utilitarianism can put these charges to rest once and for all. Edwards could get all the four hundred dollar haircuts he wants if the sum total of his work for the poor offsets the damage (whatever that may be) of his extravagance. Same for Gore. Look at the harm his lifestyle does to the environment and compare it to the good. If the net effect of their actions is positive, then the hypocrisy charge is invalid--if on balance, their actions truly do help the constituencies and the causes they are for they are not being hypocritical, regardless of minor offenses.
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2 comments:
Should a murderer be allowed to go free if he saves a person's life? A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. The Amish (and other such Luddites) are the only real environmentalists in this country. The rest who make this claim are hypocrites.
If a man decries boxing as a brutal and inhumane sport, but he once attended a boxing match in his life, do we quickly address his pressing claim that boxing is a brutal and inhumane sport, or do we foolishly waste time and focus on whether he is a hypocrite while another boxer gets beaten and abused? Some messages are true regardless of the purity of the messenger and require action first, decisions on hypocrites later.
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