The Axiom Of Respect
Individuals Demonstrate Valid Behavior
By Treating Themselves And Others Respectfully
And Respecting Only Those Who Earn It

A common discussion in our podcasts surrounds the trustworthiness of politicians - especially federal politicians. Quite often, Ellie and I take the side of most federal politicians being untrustworthy while Anna sticks to the view that most of them have the best intentions, but they are incapable or it is impossible for them to follow through on their lofty ambitions. Since this is such a disagreement, I decided to review what "Being Trustworthy" is from Magna Sententia.

To be trustworthy, one must be marked by dependability and loyalty. Dependability is doing what you say you will do when and how you say you will do it while loyalty is the quality of faithfulness and steadfast allegiance.

By this definition of trustworthiness, a politician should follow their campaign promises and try to implement them how and when they say they will implement them. Too often, I find that people make excuses for politicians, saying that they need to lie to the public during their campaigns in order to get elected. While this may be true, a politician who does this does not fit the definition of trustworthy.

A politician also needs to be loyal to be trustworthy. On the surface, this may seem a little harder to define, as it can be unclear exactly where a politician's allegiance should lie: Is a politician's allegiance to their constituents, the greater good, themselves, or even the lobbyists who financed the campaign that put them into power? This is probably the most interesting thing about trustworthiness: A person cannot be trustworthy if he or she has mixed loyalties. Politicians can't be dependable in both the eyes of their constituents and their financiers if these two groups have different objectives. When politicians make campaign promises, they need to make sure they are promising everyone the same things and then do what they said they would do.

The more I think about being trustworthy, the more it is obvious that who you are loyal to will determine whether or not you can be trustworthy. Are you more loyal to your wife or your drinking buddies? Are you more loyal to your siblings or the popular kids in school? Make sure you are giving your loyalty to the right people - the people who deserve it the most.

And you can be sure that I am going to print this out and have it next to my microphone during our next podcast.

Rodger McMillan
Magna Sententia Weblog Contributor
Host of The Magna Sententia Podcast