It occurred to me today that it has to start somewhere.
I’m a hypocrite, and I’m not sure how to fix it.
Maybe I should edit that last sentence.
I’m a hypocrite, and I have a basic understanding of how to go about fixing it, but I’m not sure that I want to do what’s required.
There. That’s more accurate.
Obviously, there are a couple of different ways to approach one’s hypocrisy. The first, and most obvious way would be to stop talking so much. Since hypocrisy is a combination of saying something to someone about what they ought to do, and then doing something else for yourself, people who keep their mouths shut more often are probably much less likely to be hypocrites, simply because they have less often said things that they might end up later contradicting with their actions.
If only the world was more quiet. If only people made fewer brazen declarations, out of a fear that they might end up being discovered as a hypocrite down the road when they contradict themselves. If only.
I’ve, on many occasions, written about our proper course, about the decisions that we should all be considering, that we don’t end up considering. Probably more times than I’d like to admit, more times than I might even be aware of, I am guilty of violating –in big ways and in small ways– the very positions that I claim that we should all be taking, the very choices that I claim that we should all be making.
Take this, for example:
In the spring, right around the start of the pandemic, I wrote a post on this blog about mask-wearing and about following the guidelines that –at the time– the CDC had just released. But, then, probably only a few hours after publishing that post, I was caught in public by someone that I know, someone who knows me, without a mask on. Truth be told, back then, I was still getting used to mask-wearing and having one with me wherever I go. I’m fairly certain that, back then, this person was not reading the blog that was, back then, just getting off the ground, so at the end of the day, my hypocrisy wasn’t apparent to them, and it probably wouldn’t ever have been recognized by anyone else. Back then.
Of course, the other approach to fixing the problem of one’s own hypocrisy is to modify one’s own behavior so that it comes into accordance with what one has claimed to be appropriate and right. If I decide to run my mouth on a regular basis, this becomes more of a challenge of course, since I end up having to bring my own behavior in line with a whole host of different comments that I’ve made.
Having said all of this, I’m not sure which would be more difficult: to keep my mouth shut more often or to obey the edicts that I hand down from my imagined position of superiority.
That’s a tough one.
I’ve written about division in our nation on this blog, but what have I done to unify the people around me? I’ve written about hatred on this blog, but what have I done to show love? I’ve written about moderation and discovered myself to occasionally be an extremist. The list goes on and on.
A little less conversation, a little more action, please.
* * *
I’ve often thought that there ought to be a talk-tax, or maybe a daily limit to speech. Say, everyone is allowed to speak five thousand total words per day, and then a tax accrues for every two hundred words extra you say after that. So, for example, I’d have to be careful with how much talking I do on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, since I’d want to come home and then write a one-thousand word blog post in the evenings on those days. Or, I’d have to be willing to pay that price.
Perhaps I could get sponsored by some of my readers, people who (might) think that what I have to say (write) would be worth paying the ‘talk overage tax’ for me –in whole or in part. Any takers?!?!
Of course, we’d work social media posts of all forms into this, to keep those people who talk too much on the internet (including me, perhaps) from annoying the rest of us with their drivel. And then, people who talk for a living would have their ‘talk overage tax’ covered by their employers.
Of course, we’d have to play it by ear at the start. Maybe the daily total number isn’t quite right. Maybe the ‘talk overage tax’ concept needs to be tweaked. But, I’m sure we could work something out.
Oh, and here you go. People can buy extra words. You know how? They engage in making the world a better place, for points, and those points are redeemable for extra words. If I want to be able to go home at the end of a full day of talking at work, then I’ll spend time on the weekend volunteering at the local homeless shelter. This will earn me twenty-five points that I can use to purchase twenty-five hundred extra words.
At least then we won’t have as many people talking about a better world and not doing anything about it.
Ooh, and here’s an idea.
Everyone has a bank –> maybe it’s a weekly bank or maybe it’s a monthly bank (it seems to be that a daily bank wouldn’t have the same sting to it) and people would have to learn how to budget their words like we ought to learn to budget our dollars and cents.
Of course, I’m just shooting in the dark here.
Just trying to come up with a way to quiet things down a little bit.
If I had a dollar for every time that I’ve heard someone opine about the world in its current state, and I knew in my heart that the person in question wasn’t going to do a darn thing about the situation, other than whine, I could most certainly afford to pay may ‘talk overage tax’ for weeks and weeks to come.
It Occurred To Me Today 