43. Integrity requires self-control
Self-control is important for SPs, because they cannot properly exercise power over others if they do not have power over themselves.This power is also important because the job brings with it great temptations and pressures, and emotions can run high. Integrity does not entail SPs being true to themselves by giving their feelings and thoughts free rein: circumstances can compel SPs to behave differently. Self-control is needed for this.
In the previous chapter we look a cursory look at how people tend to want something for nothing. Self-control is needed to resist this tendency, and for various other reasons it is important for the integrity of SPs.
Self-control is what is known as a volitional virtue. This means being restrained and in charge of one’s own behavior. Those who give their needs free rein lack integrity. Such shallow people are controlled by their needs, impulses, and emotions.228 In his bookTheTheory of Moral Sentiments moral philosopher and political economist Adam Smith argues that this self-control is necessary for every citizen in order to comply with the law, keep promises, and honor requests.229
This self-control is particularly important for SPs. As Italian poet Pietro Aretino put it, “I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.”230 This is also how SPs are seen. SPs cannot lead others if they cannot first lead themselves. People cannot exercise power over others if they are not capable of first exercising power over themselves. If we have no power over our own environment, then it is all the more important to have power over ourselves. As French author Michel de Montaigne put it, “Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.”231 There is a reason why making opponents lose their self-control is used as a tactic. If one party becomes angry, this reflects positively on the party that remains calm. Irritability and volatility are signs of impotence, whereas self-control is a sign of power.
Self-control is important because there can be many temptations and pressures in an SP’s job. Fatigue and stress can damage self-control. Frustrations and irritations can lead to loss of self-control. One expression of lack of self-control is physical violence. For example, after an exchange of words US senator Charles Bishop hit his opponent Lowell Barron.232 There was also recently hand to hand fighting in the parliaments of Morocco, Ukraine, South Korea, Venezuela, and Suriname. In Ukraine three members of parliament were even wounded.233
Lack of self-control is also indicated when people blurt out insults, as did Nicolas Sarkozy when he lost patience with a journalist questioning him and called the journalist a “couillon” (“dickhead”).234 Similarly when a mayor got into a fight with a few Sinti people, a Romani group, he told the local newspaper, “Perhaps Hitler didn’t get rid of enough of them.”235
Self-control is all the more important for SPs because they should be devoted to their ideals and their jobs. Emotions can run high if others frustrate or thwart this. This affects SPs deeply, but emotions damage rationality, causing people to lose control. Emotions may well be good (showing that your heart is in the job), but it is important to maintain control so that you can determine for yourself when to show or hide emotion. In other words, emotion can be good, as long as you are not dominated by it.
Integrity does not entail being true to yourself by giving feelings and thoughts free rein. It is generally a good thing if SPs, as figures of authority and dignitaries, remain calm and dignified in the face of criticism, even if it is fierce, untrue, and ungracious, and even if they are irritated and indignant on the inside. It is also best for SPs not to panic in crisis situations, but to appear calm and assured even if they feel uncertain inside. Wearing a mask in such situations is not a sign of lack of integrity but rather the opposite: it shows self-control with an eye for the people one serves.