RISING TIDE
A weekly e-mail letter by Jack Bloom, DA Leader in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature
14 April 2008, No: 13/08
There is a charming fairy story of the bitter and vicious king who wished to marry a beautiful young woman. He knew he could not win her over with his cruel-looking face, so he wore a mask that made him look sweet and kindly.
He married her and wore the mask for a full year, but felt that he could not keep up the pretence any longer. He pulled it off and was about to confess his deception, when he saw his face in a mirror. It was the face of a kind man, exactly like the mask that he had worn and which had so changed his behavior that it was a deception no more.
I raise this because one of the arguments against the proposed school pledge and the Bill of Responsibilities that is meant to be recited by children is that it is no use to merely mouth words when teachers behave badly and politicians set a terrible example.
All elected members of parliament and provincial legislatures take an oath or affirmation that they will respect and uphold the constitution. Should we abandon this practice because so many fall short of this ideal?
Many people will say that this is hypocrisy, which is defined as “pretending to be what one is not, or to feel what one does not feel, a pretence of virtue, piety etc”.
It would be wonderful if everyone was sincere in both word and deed, especially people who are meant to be role-models, but the ideal itself should not be under attack because of the personal weakness of those who claim adherence to it. Do we throw out the Ten Commandments because some ministers violate them?
“Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue” is a very wise saying. It means that the hypocrite acknowledges the value that society places on virtue, otherwise he/she would openly flout it.
If the hypocrite is caught out, his contrition again affirms the virtue, as when New York Governor Elliott Spitzer said in his resignation speech following disclosure of his use of high-class prostitutes: “I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me“.
Bigoted remarks by Jacob Zuma on women and homosexuals probably revealed his real feelings, but he felt the need to retract under public pressure.
Outright denial is worse, as when Reverend Allan Boesak refused to apologize for stealing donor funds meant for the poor and was granted a pardon without admitting guilt.
There would be no hypocrisy if no one ever claimed to aspire to the highest standards of ethical conduct. There would be no shame either, which is an important societal constraint on unethical behavior.
No one accused Hugh Hefner of Playboy magazine of hypocrisy when he moved out of the Playboy mansion so as to bring up his two young sons in a more wholesome environment.
In his opening address this year, Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said, “All of us as leaders, civil servants, legislators and all of our people, have a moral and ethical obligation to uphold the highest possible standards of honesty and integrity”.
The DA will hold him to this statement, which is better than the response by Finance MEC Paul Mashatile who said, “The people who elected us will tell us if we have indeed departed from what they have elected us to do. So we do not want to continue to hear lectures about accountability, about inefficiency.”
Mashatile’s arrogance derives from a ruling party that believes that its overwhelming election victory justifies all that it does as the will of the people, who will continue to support them regardless of any lapses.
Politics is always a tussle between the ideal and what is possible, both ethically and practically. We must continue to aspire to the highest virtues, and be prepared to affirm them even when we fail.
Hopefully the day comes when the mask of hypocrisy is no longer necessary as leaders genuinely believe and practice what they preach.
A weekly e-mail letter by Jack Bloom, DA Leader in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature
14 April 2008, No: 13/08
There is a charming fairy story of the bitter and vicious king who wished to marry a beautiful young woman. He knew he could not win her over with his cruel-looking face, so he wore a mask that made him look sweet and kindly.
He married her and wore the mask for a full year, but felt that he could not keep up the pretence any longer. He pulled it off and was about to confess his deception, when he saw his face in a mirror. It was the face of a kind man, exactly like the mask that he had worn and which had so changed his behavior that it was a deception no more.
I raise this because one of the arguments against the proposed school pledge and the Bill of Responsibilities that is meant to be recited by children is that it is no use to merely mouth words when teachers behave badly and politicians set a terrible example.
All elected members of parliament and provincial legislatures take an oath or affirmation that they will respect and uphold the constitution. Should we abandon this practice because so many fall short of this ideal?
Many people will say that this is hypocrisy, which is defined as “pretending to be what one is not, or to feel what one does not feel, a pretence of virtue, piety etc”.
It would be wonderful if everyone was sincere in both word and deed, especially people who are meant to be role-models, but the ideal itself should not be under attack because of the personal weakness of those who claim adherence to it. Do we throw out the Ten Commandments because some ministers violate them?
“Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue” is a very wise saying. It means that the hypocrite acknowledges the value that society places on virtue, otherwise he/she would openly flout it.
If the hypocrite is caught out, his contrition again affirms the virtue, as when New York Governor Elliott Spitzer said in his resignation speech following disclosure of his use of high-class prostitutes: “I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me“.
Bigoted remarks by Jacob Zuma on women and homosexuals probably revealed his real feelings, but he felt the need to retract under public pressure.
Outright denial is worse, as when Reverend Allan Boesak refused to apologize for stealing donor funds meant for the poor and was granted a pardon without admitting guilt.
There would be no hypocrisy if no one ever claimed to aspire to the highest standards of ethical conduct. There would be no shame either, which is an important societal constraint on unethical behavior.
No one accused Hugh Hefner of Playboy magazine of hypocrisy when he moved out of the Playboy mansion so as to bring up his two young sons in a more wholesome environment.
In his opening address this year, Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said, “All of us as leaders, civil servants, legislators and all of our people, have a moral and ethical obligation to uphold the highest possible standards of honesty and integrity”.
The DA will hold him to this statement, which is better than the response by Finance MEC Paul Mashatile who said, “The people who elected us will tell us if we have indeed departed from what they have elected us to do. So we do not want to continue to hear lectures about accountability, about inefficiency.”
Mashatile’s arrogance derives from a ruling party that believes that its overwhelming election victory justifies all that it does as the will of the people, who will continue to support them regardless of any lapses.
Politics is always a tussle between the ideal and what is possible, both ethically and practically. We must continue to aspire to the highest virtues, and be prepared to affirm them even when we fail.
Hopefully the day comes when the mask of hypocrisy is no longer necessary as leaders genuinely believe and practice what they preach.
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