Hypocrisy

What a fun word!

According to Oxford Languages, hypocrisy is defined as “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.”

We see it everywhere.

An organization may “claim” that they value respect. It’s hard to believe this claim when the organization’s leaders consistently treat others without respect.

A religious leader may “claim” that it’s a sin to kill others. It’s hard to believe this claim when the leader praises their role in the crusades, which led to the slaughter of many people.

A politician may “claim” that he’s going to improve the economy. It’s hard to believe this claim when the politician’s actions increase the national debt and cause many jobs to be lost.

We live in a world of systems. It’s not always obvious which causes lead to which effects. Still, even complicated systems produce better results when people do what they say they’re going to do.

History teaches us many lessons — even if not enough people know history well enough to spot modest variations on a theme.

While advances in technology may happen at an accelerating pace, human behavior tends to change much more slowly. If the child of a caveman lived today, she could easily learn how to adapt to our modern world. However, like any of us, she would still display jealousy, rage, joy, and sorrow.

“Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.

Humans do not always behave in a rational way.

Sometimes, humans embrace hypocrisy.

Nevertheless, we are not wrong to hope that things are getting better.