Brief Thought on a Busy Day

The rest of this post is kind of depressing, so I thought I'd start you off with a peep show.

Very busy, but I've been mulling a thought over in my head.

What is integrity?

I've assumed it means acting according to one's principles, even when that is unpleasant.

I value integrity, but one of my favorite quotes is from John Marshall Harlan, "I would rather be right than consistent."

If you are inflexible in your principles, you wind up doing stupid things.  For instance, the GOP principles focus on a smaller government.  But if you follow that path far enough, you cripple the nation.  Democratic principles include helping those that need help, but you take that far enough and you create a culture of dependence.

So, I guess, if you're going to have integrity, you have be very careful what your principles are.  I suppose that's where understanding virtue comes in.  Something specific, like helping those that need help, is less defensible than, say, charity or empathy.

It seems to me that the problem we have with integrity today is as much a problem with virtue and understanding what virtues are than it is about remaining steadfast in your principles.

But that's not to say that we also don't live in a world where virtues - narrow and broad - are not violated with stunning ease.  Too often, we don't live up to even a generous definition of integrity.  Too often we violate the important virtues that are supposed to represent the core of our beliefs.

When you are a private school teacher, you have to believe you are doing virtuous work to create people with integrity and values who will make the world prosper.  Unprotected by a union, you are usually compensated less than comparable teachers in public schools.  So it's important that you believe that your calling is a noble one.

Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world, and certainly not a virtuous one.  And every once and a while you come face to face with the realization that this is an imperfect world and that virtue is not a value, it's a fungible commodity whose worth fluctuates with events.  And because you've staked your career on a premise that's likely to prove impossible to fulfill, it makes a hard job tougher.