Adaptability can be a virtue. But what happens when politicians change, not because the evidence changed, but because standing firm has become too costly?
Our main episode this week celebrated adaptability. I told you that changing your mind can be a sign of growth, that changing course when something isn’t working can be wise, and that stubbornly clinging to an old position simply because you’ve already committed to it isn’t necessarily integrity. And I stand by all of that.
But watching the Republican Party’s relationship with Donald Trump raises a much more uncomfortable version of the same question. What happens when the evidence doesn’t really change, but the political incentives do? What happens when standing by your principles and opposing someone can cost you influence, leadership, or even your political career, while accommodating that person, regardless of your principles, allows you to remain inside the circle of power? At what point does adaptability stop being intellectual flexibility and become something else entirely?
So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts!
