63. Integrity can be sacrificed for good reasons
Before criticizing SPs, we should pay attention to (1) the investments they make, (2) the noble interest that they serve, and (3) the risk they take of having to sacrifice their integrity. It is desirable that SPs gain appreciation from society, so that SP positions are attractive to current and future SPs and they have the necessary authority.
SPs are sometimes spoken of with disdain and moral indignation,380 with the suggestion that they are after power, fame, and status. Self-interest dominates and morality is nowhere to be seen. SPs operate in a snake pit, a battlefield, an arena. Is this fair? Before criticizing SPs, we should understand that they deserve appreciation for a number of reasons.
Firstly, many citizens do not want to go into politics or public administration. Although there is a great deal of enthusiasm for SP positions, there are also many people with no interest in them. Many SP positions take up a good deal of free time. Salaries for paid SP positions are relatively low compared with those in business. There is also generally no job security: political and administrative changes can mean that SPs are forced to step down from one day to the next. In this respect, serving the people is a risky investment. For this reason alone there should be appreciation for SPs.
There is a second reason why SPs deserve appreciation. Even if it were true that SPs were after power, fame, and status, or other personal interests (such as creating a network and springboard to a better position), the position is still focused on serving the people. SPs are choosing a noble position above doing nothing or serving other interests. That is why people who work for the good of society should be appreciated.
Appreciation should extend further. If SPs really operate in a snake pit, on a battlefield, or in an arena, it is all the more praiseworthy that they risk becoming embroiled in it, having to get their hands dirty, and even damaging or losing their integrity. Those who want to serve the people are praiseworthy in this respect. It is a sign of integrity when people consciously risk having to sacrifice this quality. Philosopher Bernard Williams states that people who place keeping a clear conscience above all else exhibit a form of moral selfishness, what he calls moral self- indulgence.381 They prioritize avoiding damage to themselves (through moral dilemmas) above the damage they might cause by making the wrong decision. For this reason risking damage to your conscience can be desirable and praiseworthy.
There should be appreciation for SPs for these three reasons. As Theodore Roosevelt put it, “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effect without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”382 People who are unwilling to take any integrity risks do not belong in SP positions. As philosopher Lynne McFall puts it, those people would be better off taking up residence in their closets.383
Lack of appreciation is not something SPs should allow to happen to them. Where possible they should make it clear what they invest and risk. Appreciation is not only necessary for your own pleasure and fulfillment in your work, but also for the necessary authority to be able to fulfill your role and to maintain the attractiveness of such positions for future SPs.