October 18, 2008

Politics: "Let me tell you about the blade."

There's power and there are the tools of power. There's intelligent and there's smart.

If you are entirely insulated from the consequences of your actions, it would be decent to recuse yourself from offering advice to others, no less so than a man who stands to profit from the outcome. When a man is facing a spinning blade, the cardinal sin is to distract him. Yelling: "Look out!" is akin to shoving him into the blade. The time to identify danger is before, not after. It is predictability and stability and a certain kind of respect that is helpful. Nothing else.
Let me tell you about the blade. You think you can handle it because you fancy yourself intelligent. You're wrong. Because the danger it presents, the real danger, is hidden from you. - Sippican Cottage: Politics

Posted by Vanderleun at October 18, 2008 9:55 AM
Bookmark and Share