A Matter of Principle: The Loyal Opposition

By Qarol Price

Have you heard the one about the politician who arrives in Chicago for a campaign rally and strikes up a conversation with his cab driver: “How are you planning to vote in the upcoming election?”

The driver doesn’t recognize the candidate from the “A Party.” He replies, “Well, my father always voted for the A Party, and so did my grandfather and his father before him.” Pleased to hear this, the politician asks, “So you’re planning to vote A Party too?”

The cabbie smiles wryly and says, “I’m voting for the B Party. Sometimes a man must set aside his principles and do the right thing.”

The point of the joke is the implied contrast between the driver’s “principles” and what he thinks is “right,” right? What he calls his “principles” is really just inherited party loyalty, pretty much the equivalent of “brand loyalty,” as if his family has always used Tide instead of Gain for the laundry. Or maybe he roots for the sports team his family has always cheered on, just because they’ve always rooted for that team.

It isn’t really a matter of principle at all. It’s more a matter of inertia, of acquiescence. There’s nothing “right” about such loyalty, but the cabbie recognizes that casting one’s vote does have a moral dimension. It transcends mere preference. In other words, it involves a higher loyalty, the loyalty to a moral principle depending on how the voter sees the issues. Or at least it should. And this raises the question: what really merits one’s loyalty?

Why is it wrong to cheat on your spouse? Because you have made a covenant with him/her. It is one of the most serious commitments you can make. Cheating is betrayal. You become a Judas. Equally serious is treason, betraying your country, like today’s misguided college students who chant “Death to America.”

You may reply that these students are standing up for principles they believe are at stake. But they are tragically confused. They are perfect examples of why one must take great care in choosing one’s principles. Ignorance makes a mockery of integrity. Hitler certainly thought his principles were right, didn’t he?

What about the whistle-blowers we hear about on the news? These people had been loyal to their employers, whether to a company or to the government. But they suddenly realized their employers no longer deserved their loyalty. These brave individuals knew they had to break with their employers because, if they hadn’t, they would be complicit in their employers’ crimes. So, they ratted them out, and usually at great cost. But they served a higher loyalty. They realized that the highest principle is being loyal to what is right. Period.

Qarol Price is a writer and educator. She has taught philosophy to children in Johnston County Public Schools and in Harlem. She is a resident of Selma.