The Two Churchills
November 21, 2017·2 comments·Politics
The desire to change the world has become the primary engine of institutional corruption. Journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens pursuing impact and influence have shifted from serving the public interest to serving their own reputation. What happens to dialogue, trust, and civic engagement when the drive to Be Someone becomes more important than the drive to be truthful?
• Media institutions have flipped roles. They've moved from acting as agents of the public (revealing what powerful entities want hidden) to acting as principals with their own vision for how outcomes should unfold. This shift happens quietly through editorial choices rather than outright lies.
• The same competitive impulse that corrupts institutions corrupts everyday discourse. When you need to Be Someone in the eyes of your tribe, every disagreement becomes existential. You can't just say someone is wrong; you must prove they're a hypocrite and silence their voice entirely.
• Victimhood has become a competitive status. Across the political spectrum, people are racing to establish the strongest credentials of oppression or offense. The paradox: claiming victimhood is the perfect strategy for demanding both that your voice be louder and that opposing voices be completely silenced.
• Whataboutism replaced actual debate. Rather than address a substantive criticism, we deflect by pointing out what the other side has done. The rhetorical move simultaneously says "I shouldn't have to answer you" and "You're worse than me." It's perfectly engineered for our current moment.
• Authenticity, not ambition, creates real impact. The alternative isn't humility or passivity. It's pursuing an extraordinarily true version of yourself without constructing a brand around it. That kind of independence might actually change things, but only if you stop trying to change things.
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Comments
Even for those who don’t believe who Jesus said he is, there is a lot to admire. He always knew who he was, and what he was a part of, and always told the truth. He rarely if ever thought about how he felt, except in a prayer, asking if it was possible to take away what was about to happen to him. Even then, he said not what I want, but what you want be done. He was never in a hurry, and had time for the people he met. And, the vast majority of the people he met were better after meeting him. He never failed to call out the hypocrites, but was never mean when he did it, always calling those he confronted to come back to the truth. What he accomplished through selflessness changed the world, and continues to change people. Too bad portions of society look down upon those who say “I want to be like Jesus”, because they fail to truly understand what that means.
Here are a couple of quotes I thought of while ready your essay. The first I admire for its truth & simplicity, the second for the honesty it took for the speaker to see himself in the light.
“Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.“ ~ Confucius, “The Analects”
“The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of Mammon and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of “rich men” behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes." ~ John Swinton, New York journalist, at a banquet
Can’t tell you how much I appreciate the depth that you & Ben go to, to peel back the layers fiat life. Thank you.
Beautiful piece and what I needed to read
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