Hypocrisy and Self Authorship

I would like to do some research on self authorship and hypocrisy. I think I know what the answer would be, but it’s pretty interesting to look around at the world today and see the different things that are happening and how different people react to it. 

For one, it shows me just how prevalent the “socialized” mindset is in society. What do I mean? I mean, I think, that I believe the socialized mindset is is one that is characterized by getting along with and going along with the crowd. There’s a lot of that in politics, going along with the crowd, and that’s where I see most of the hypocrisy displayed. 

A perfect example is this article from the WSJ that my wife pointed out to me. Here is a public teachers union chief who sends her children to a private school. 

So, to me, that’s pretty hypocritical. I look at that through the lens of my work. It would be like my not using our own training and elearning courses to train people in my department. Don’t get me wrong, we do use other training groups. Our departments use Fred Pryor and LinkedIn Learning and more, BUT we don’t have that content that those resources have . . . Yet. . . . And if we did, I would insist that our folks use our own training first. 

But what this union chief is doing is a bit worse than just that, if you ask me. Her role and her position as a union chief is partly made up in being an advocate against school choice. She is working against giving people the opportunity to send their kids to schools that they want. 

I’m a huge advocate of the free market. I believe that the free market can fix just about anything. You have a need, the free market can fulfill that need. We have failing schools, the free market makes it possible for anyone to start a school, . . . A private school . . . A charter school . . . What have you. This union chief leads the effort for her union against the free market of open access to all for schools while taking advantage of the free market herself. 

Now to see it from her perspective, she is wealthy enough to afford private school for her kids. Why should she limit herself and her kiddo’s education when she has the means to participate in the free market. Anyone with the means and the desire should be allowed to take advantage of the free market. I’m all for that. The problem I have is that she is denying the opportunity to use the free market to others. 

This is a great example of personal hypocrisy, but what about the group? That socialized mindset. 

Well, I’m betting most more liberal politically minded people would say that what she is advocating for, which is better schools for all, at the cost of denying the free market to many people, is worth it. And they might be right? But they’re okay with the hypocrisy. Do we all have acceptable limits of hypocrisy in our lives?