And so, just another one from the Malcolm Gladwell podcast (I really do recommend that you start listening to it and season 1 is here).
In the first episode of the first podcast that he ever did, he used the metaphor and the story behind a painting called The Roll Call painted by Elizabeth Thompson at the end of the 90th century.
He uses an extraordinary story and extraordinary use of metaphor to explain the current emerging science of moral licensing.
Put simply moral licensing is when people do a small, good thing which then, in their minds, allows them to continue to do terrible things because they’ve convinced themselves that they’re actually good.
He describes people in Germany who looked after a few wealthy Jews whilst sponsoring the holocaust.
“How can I be anti-Semitic if I’ve looked after these Jews despite the fact that I’ve murdered these ones”.
The most staggering thing he covers is the first Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and what happened to her in her time in office.
Imagine the opposition subjecting the head of state of your country to slogans like ‘ditch the bitch’ when they were in power.
It’s worth watching the Julia Gillard misogyny speech just to see how far moral licensing came.
It was one of the most unforgettable moments in Australian TV history but the person that she targeted in the speech went on to become the Prime Minister of Australia despite everything he had done and everything she said.
Australia had ‘allowed’ a woman to become Prime Minister but just once so they could get on with being the way they were.
Once your eyes are opened to moral licensing it’s everywhere and sadly it might even be in us or in me or in you.
Perhaps the first thing we should do to try and stop it is to identify it.
Convincing ourselves that we’re good is very different to being good.
Blog Post Number - 3271