Motivational speakers and our love of hypocrisy

It is the fundamental irony of motivational speakers with cautionary tales that they try to dissuade the young people of today from making their mistakes. Why are people so fascinated with their stories and their message?

I almost expect these speakers to slip in a condemnation of jazz and liquor when they speak out against the sin for which they atoned, whether they repent their former copious coitus or the toxic effects of intoxicants.

They turned around their lives, or so they say. It is, of course, incidental that they happen to be making a substantial sum of money from their lecture sessions.

Why are they paid such money beyond that of hotel and travel compensations if they are really doing nothing but speaking out against all that is fun? Why are we so fascinated with their fall from their presumption of omnipotence?

It is a proud distinction of humanity that we do not learn from the mistakes of others ex post facto. Humanity is morbidly fascinated with tales of humanity at its lowest, aren’t we?

Nonetheless, surely only those gullible enough to believe a man paid to tell you to conform to the prevailing societal ideal would care to listen to him. And even these gullibites will have the nagging feeling that they must be missing out of the instant gratification.

Of course, there is an airy declaration so many critics seem to throw around with brazen enthusiasm that they think qualifies this situation. In a manner reminiscent of the proud tradition of critics to emulate the behavior of junior senators from Wisconsin, they label this behavior under one foolishly ignorant catchall.

These speakers are hypocrites, they claim. It’s a double standard.

And yet it is not a matter of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy does not include the possibility of an admission of fault.

Hypocrisy is essentially just a double standard. To say it in the manner of one of these motivational speakers, hypocrisy cannot apply after the sinner atones for his actions.

Even considering this reality, it occurs to me that people are especially discerning between what happens to oneself and what happens to the other guy.

How many drivers insist that they are of discerning quality while swerving in and out of traffic at impossible speeds? “It’s safe,” they reason, “because I’m a safe driver. I know what I’m doing.”

The other driver on the freeway who is of a similar mind probably agrees, especially just before they crash into each other. And both are disbelieving.

Humanity loves its vices until someone else’s practice of them interferes with our own. After all, if we are willing to forego our shot at committing some especially entertaining vices, we’ll never land a sweet gig as a motivational speaker.

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