Valkyrie, Socrates, and You, Part II

By Robert Ringer

On a personal level — i.e., government and politics aside — the Valkyrie story is yet another reminder that it’s much more important to be loyal to your principles than to be popular. Truth and popularity, in fact, are all too often at odds with one another.

In comparing his own life to that of Socrates, in his book The Consolations of Philosophy, Alain de Botton writes:

In conversations, my priority was to be liked, rather than to speak the truth. A desire to please led me to laugh at modest jokes like a parent on the opening night of a school play. With strangers, I adopted the servile manner of a concierge greeting wealthy clients in a hotel — salival enthusiasm born of a morbid, indiscriminate desire for affection. I did not publicly doubt ideas to which the majority was committed. I sought the approval of figures of authority and after encounters with them, worried at length whether they had thought me acceptable. When passing through customs or driving alongside police cars, I harboured a confused wish for the uniformed officials to think well of me.

Sound familiar? It should, because, to some extent, every one of us is guilty of not having the courage to reveal our true thoughts. In fact, none of us will ever totally rid ourselves of the sometimes overpowering need to be accepted. It is a psychic disability that is part of being human.

This is so even though we know, in our heart of hearts, that some of the biggest fools on the planet are popular. If we need reinforcement on this point, we need only turn on our television sets and listen to the babble of the many high-profile fools who grace our screens.

But what about compromise? Doesn’t a civilized society require compromise? I like the way former House Majority Leader Dick Armey answers that question: “You can compromise on details, you can compromise on strategies, but you must never compromise on principles.”

For the most part, compromising on “details and strategy” can be beneficial if it helps equals to get past trivial issues. But when it comes to principles, Ayn Rand had it right: How do you compromise between good and evil? Between moral and immoral? Between freedom and slavery?

Also, remember another important lesson from the Valkyrie episode: Circumstances change. And when circumstances change, perceptions can change. If you don’t believe it, just think about the way the public perception of Cassius Clay changed when he changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Then, worse, when he refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army on the grounds that he was a conscientious objector.

Ali may not have been well versed on Socrates, but he certainly spoke with clarity when he said, in 1966, “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.” Whether you loved him or hated him for it, you have to admire the fact that he didn’t back down when Uncle Sam threatened him with five years in prison — at the height of his career!

What I still find amazing is that boxing commissions throughout the country suspended his licenses to fight and he was stripped of his heavyweight title. He was convicted after the jury deliberated for only twenty-one minutes, but he appealed that decision, and his case eventually made it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The clock ticked away for four years before the Supreme Court overturned his conviction. And guess what happened during that time? Circumstances changed! As with the Iraq War, the majority of Americans came to oppose the Vietnam War with a passion. And a side effect to that was that Ali became wildly popular.

Ali’s Valkyrie-like stance didn’t cost him his life, but it did cost him the best earning years of his career. In the meantime, however, he became an American icon of inner strength. Without question, had he not stuck to his convictions, he would not be the popular, courageous figure he is today.

Which brings me back, once again, to the Valkyrie story. It reminded me just how important it is not to compromise one’s principles. Like everyone, I’ve had my share of people getting mad at me for something I’ve said (You should read some of my subscriber e-mails!), something I’ve done, or for refusing to do something they wanted me to do.

If this, too, sounds familiar, I’d like to pass along some advice from one of the wisest men I’ve ever known. About a year before he passed away, “The Red Barron” told me that when people become angry with you for your words or actions, and you know that you’ve done nothing wrong, the solution is to look in the mirror and say to yourself:

“If my hands are clean and my cause is just and my demands are reasonable, I have nothing to worry about.” Then simply go about your business.

Finally, I would remind you to keep things in perspective: Unless it involves the government, sticking to your principles with Socratic stubbornness is unlikely to result in your execution. Of course, in certain instances, it could cost you financially. But, even then, the trade-off is that your self-respect and self-esteem will skyrocket.

And those are things you can’t put a price tag on.

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