Sincerity Week 1: Political abs edition

Sincerity week was less of a challenge than industry week for me.  Franklin exhorts me to "Use no hurtful Deceit.  Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly."  I didn't find myself much tempted to deceive others hurtfully, and so this wasn't a terrible challenge. 

I am intrigued that this is the first of Franklin's categories to attempt to monitor thought – the activity he seems to locate as the source of fair dealing.  Franklin cuts insincerity off at the source.  His cautious "if you speak" follows from his Silence adages (week 2; entry below), which stressed engaging solely in purposeful and beneficial speech.  While I therefore assume that "think[ing] innocently and justly" is meant to characterize my own thought and speech patterns – no lying, no unfair agenda – these adverbs seem possibly transferable to one's interlocutor, with whom one is being sincere.  Does Franklin imagine that the more "innocently and justly" I think, the more I will think others innocent and just?  Presumably speech intended to bait or call others out on their own insincerity isn't Franklin-approved (it's unproductive). 

Diplomacy, in short, remained a question for me with this system.  Franklin only cautions me to avoid "hurtful Deceit" but says nothing about white lies, or about the small flatteries and compromises that can often grease the wheels of administrative or other collaborative work.  I assume that a practiced and accomplished diplomat such as Franklin was well-acquainted with these and other forms of productive, necessary insincerity.  I plan to research this a bit the next time "Sincerity" is up.

Meanwhile, this week we had the pleasure of seeing Franklin invoked by none other than Aaron Schock, the Congressman from Illinois's 18th district who flaunted his pecs and six-pack in a shirtless photoshoot for Men's Health magazine:  http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/aaron-schock-fitness .  Most of the way down the page, Schock names Franklin as his (improbable!) fitness inspiration:

"One of my favorite quotes is from Ben Franklin, who said, 'A good example is the best sermon,' " Schock says. "And I think if you want to start talking about healthy lifestyles and staying in shape, then you yourself should do your best to try to be a model, an example to people you're trying to convince to do the same."

It is...piquant to see the Founding Father known for his comforting, comfortable heft cited in this fashion.  I can't imagine Franklin taking the necessary time away from, of all things, the business of public service in order to manipulate his appearance in this way.  Nor would he conflate being a "model" of fiscal prudence and actions of simultaneously public and personal benefit (his sweet spot, and what he is referring to here) with other forms of modeling.  (Similarly, later in the article, Schock describes his work as a Congressman as a useful part of his exercise regime, rather than vice versa: "Exercise...keeps me in good physical shape, and it relieves stress. And when you're a representative of the public, there's never a shortage of things to do.") 

Do I deduce some Insincerity in Schock's tribute to Franklin (more on this soon in relation to "Justice," coming up)?  Poor Richard's adages are, of course, meant to be detachable and adaptable.  Even exemplarity itself seems to have two sides, since elsewhere, we have Franklin declaring, in a proto-Wildean voice, that "Setting too good an example is a kind of slander seldom forgiven."

But I digress. 

There has been an improvement this week in industry and resolution, since I take last week's industry low-point seriously.  Unfortunately, there will be a temporary hiatus in charts, due to the death of my hard drive.  It will be resurrected, I hope, this week, in time for Justice.  Stay tuned.