Time after time after time, what I have seen is that those who | Imperium Press

Time after time after time, what I have seen is that those who claim to care primarily (and passionately!) about principles, actually turn out to be fairly unprincipled once put to the test. By contrast, those they vilify for caring more about identity/nation than principles, actually turn out to be MORE principled than them!

Whether it's:
- conservatives betraying their nation's heritage
- socialists completely betraying the working-class
- liberals being intolerant
- libertarians getting authoritarian in the face of covid
- self-described "philosophers" lying about controversial topics
- or free speech advocates declaring that certain speakers should be "exiled from polite society"
... time and again, people who claim to be driven by principles end up calmly betraying those principles in order to stay "acceptable".

In the end, if you have something to protect you will stand firm, but by contrast, if you're merely protecting yourself, your social acceptability and your bank balance, then you will just sway with the wind, and betray your so-called principles as soon as it's expedient.

Maybe the explanation for this is to do with self-sacrifice in the act of serving something other than yourself. I'm not sure. But either way, it seems to happen again and again. If you're protecting something, that task drives you to be principled, at least on the issues that are relevant.