Thursday, November 23, 2023

Hypocrisy is High Status

 If someone can force you to follow your principles, then they can force you to do things and are higher status than you are. As such, betraying your principles is a way of signalling nobody can force you to do things, and you are high status. 

 It's also one of the high-status luxury goods. It's inconvenient to have to match your actions and attestations all the time. Why not be relieved of that pressure with a little of the good ol' ultrahypocrisy? 

 When you "complain" that someone is a hypocrite, you are pointing out they are especially high status. No wonder this never "works" politically. The more you "complain" the higher the status they must have. 

 

 This is clearly intentional. I never get accused of hypocrisy, unless you count the mudthrow+wall strategists. It's not that difficult, but nobody attempts it. It would be counterproductive according to their local norms.


 By contrast, under property rights, you don't make contracts with hypocrites because they aren't agreement-capable. You have to make the contract expensively ironclad, and put in huge contract-breaking penalties to recoup the contract enforcement costs. Why not instead trade and cooperate with someone honourable? 

 Under property rights, you point out hypocrisy not to change the hypocrite's behaviour, but to change your friends' behaviour. "Avoid this scammer." The point isn't scolding, the point is ostracism.

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