The Evolution of Integrity



When I was a little baby sailor in the Nuclear Power Program, one of the first principles drilled into my head from Day 1 was that of Integrity. Doing the right thing when no one is looking. Questioning your own bias and motivation before giving an order. Insisting on engineering excellence. Question everything. It was the cornerstone of the program, and with it the United States Navy could give a bunch of twenty-somethings the keys to a nuclear power plant. It was an awesome responsibility; one that none of us took lightly, but shoot- we were just a bunch of fun loving, globetrotting kids. We partied like rock stars, but also took college classes, cross pollinated American culture with new friends around the globe, and most importantly, maintained the safe operation of hundreds of nuclear power plants around the world.

Fast forward twenty years, and I feel like the culture of excellence is drifting away. Or, perhaps it only exists in defense and medicine because the stakes are high enough to demand it while everyone else exists in a culture of 'good enough' or 'screw you, consumer'. Is this the case, or is it simply a function of getting older and seeing things for what they are?

It gets blurry- depending on your perch, the world can be black and white or it has many shades of gray (way more than 50). You steal the apple but give it to a starving child. Exploit your workers but donate heavily to a charity of their choosing. At the extremes of humanity, integrity seems to be at its most malleable. The street urchin and the President of the United States have incredible latitude, while those of us in the middle get caught in the current of our cultural mores.

In a world of fake news and doublespeak, tax breaks coupled with deficits, pining for increased greenhouse gas emissions because we're having a cold winter (clearly POTUS doesn't invest enough in ski resorts), and other ridiculous arguments out there to distract and divert attention from what truly matters, I'm committing to do my part in making 2018 the year we bring integrity and rational thought back in vogue.

There are no great centrists in history, but a little nudge to Adam Smith's invisible hand by the great majority of rational folks in the middle can right the ship and make this absolutely fascinating time in our history something we look back on as 'The Hysteria of '17' or, more hopefully, 'The Reawakening of the American Electorate and the Demise of the Career Politician'.

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