Surviving an Age of Blame, Hypocrisy, and Cynicism

In general, accountability is something we hold other people to, while ignoring our own lack of it. We’re all at least a little hypocritical in that regard. But not consciously. A desire for accountability in others is a product of the primitive impulse to blame someone for our discomfort, pain, hardship, or disappointment. Blame keeps us negatively focused on others, with little or no reflection that might modify the biases that underlie it. Blame is virtually inseparable from hypocrisy and, if it persists, from cynicism.

Accountability is taking responsibility for one’s actions. The psychological function of blame is transference of guilt or shame, which impedes accountability.

Don’t be fooled by the common rationalization that blaming is “holding them accountable.” Think of your gut response when someone holds you accountable. You’re likely to feel unfairly blamed. The defensive declension proceeds like this:

“You blame. I hold people accountable.”

No one feels accountable when blamed; they feel like victims, with a powerful impulse to blame back. Again, think of your own experience. How often have you blamed someone for something and not been blamed for something in return?

Impression Management and Cynicism

According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, impression management consists of:

Behaviors intended to control how others perceive oneself, especially by guiding them to attribute desirable traits to oneself.

Watch C-Span at any given hour and you’ll likely see more impression management than you can stand.

“Impression management” is a euphemism for deceit.

Cynicism is:

An inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest. – Oxford Languages

Cynicism increases the impulse to blame and to doubt anyone who seems preoccupied with something other than self-interest, namely, impression management.

Although it’s an understandable response to current public discourse, especially on the Internet, cynical judgments are embedded in past judgments, both personal and cultural. They often have more to do with the past than the present. Despite attempts at managing impressions, cynics want us to think they’re smarter than everyone else; they typically come off as hypocritical and arrogant.

Surviving Hypocrisy and Cynicism

The Buddha warned us millennia ago that most of the suffering in the world comes from wishing it were not the way it is. We will do well to accept that hypocrisy and cynicism, like compassion and violence, are part of human nature. Then we can channel the emotional energy wasted on impotent railings against them into making the world better despite hypocrisy and cynicism.

Interest is our greatest resource. It will lead to truth and away from hypocrisy, cynicism, and impression management, if we use it wisely and not waste it on ego strokes or resentments. Interest pours out of us into the world, not into us from the world.