Immoral or Incompetent?
• John Vandivier
In politics there is an age old question about why policymakers, those who implement such policies, and others, commit bad action. The question is, are they acting immorally or with incompetence?
I do not usually deal with this question because:
- It's extremely hard to demonstrate that someone has acted immorally.
- In politics, my view isn't the only one that matters. So even if I demonstrate that someone has acted immorally under my worldview, it's not always effective at making the person be seen as undesirable.
- I view both as negative outcomes and I would vote any politician out which did either.
- Using the view shown in #3, it becomes easy to show desirable and undesirable politicians. I don't have to get into their heads or motivations, I just have to observe the bad action. Because this approach is positive rather than normative, it also becomes easier convince others as well.