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Hypocrisy is when someone criticizes something they also do, or acts in a way they don’t condone. It can be found in parenting, politics, and comedy. Hypocrites can reduce trust in the political system, but it’s difficult to never be 100% direct. In ancient Greece, hypocrisy was the tool of actors, rhetoricians, and orators.
In the modern sense, a hypocrite is someone who criticizes something they also do, or someone who acts in a way that they specifically don’t condone. This is considered a bad thing in most cases, and there are many ways to tell when someone acts this way. “The Pot That Calls the Black Kettle” is a classic, and “People Who Live in Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Stones” is equally popular.
Parenting can be a fertile field for finding examples of hypocrisy. A parent who smokes and tells his children not to, reeks of tobacco and hypocrisy. It’s hard to expect children to take such a parent seriously, since he acts in a way that overrules his advice. Likewise, a parent who swears frequently will have a hard time convincing his or her children not to swear.
Political candidates and commentators from all sides of the political spectrum can act hypocritically. Candidates who run on “family values” platforms and then have relationships are a good example. When their behavior is exposed, much of what they do or say in all aspects of their political lives or careers is called into question.
Comedians, especially those who rate politicians, often find hypocrisy one of the easiest things to make fun of. Political satire programs like The Colbert Report and The Daily Show often focus on how political candidates make self-righteous statements. They emphasize statements that political leaders have made in the past to demonstrate that their positions do not remain static and often contradict what they have previously stated. In other words, they establish double standards: one for themselves and one for the rest of the world.
While the hypocrite can be ridiculous at times, at other times, particularly when looking at people with political power, they can reduce trust in the political system and politics in general. People get tired of scandals, lies and deliberate hypocrisy and may wonder if any politician is exempt from such behavior. Psychologists have suggested that people tend to be more critical of the characteristics of others they hate most in themselves. Perhaps it’s impossible to never be 100% direct, although the goal of having a person’s words match their actions is a good goal to set.
Historically, the definition of this word has evolved over time, and now it has a completely different meaning than the original one. In ancient Greece, a hypocrite was someone who played a part, played a part, or dissembled. Hypocrisy was the tool of actors, rhetoricians and orators. Specifically in rhetoric and debate, each side of an argument must be assigned and a person must therefore take any side to the greatest capacity of him. People understand that the side they take may not represent their true point of view; instead, it’s simply a position in a discussion that helps them better understand sides of an issue.
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