Many years ago one of my colleagues made a sad observation about navigating office politics: “You’re always better off if you avoid taking a position on anything because speaking out only turns you into everyone’s target.” This strategy might sound empty and cowardly, but I have seen it work—again and again—in business, government, and education. Although we fantasize it is otherwise, that outspoken heroism and integrity will inevitably win the day, the truth is success typically goes to those who unctuously squish their ways through their careers and strive to inoffensively fit in with the herd.

We might admire fighters who are uncompromising in their principles and actions, but those who wriggle their way into positions of authority are often the plodding functionaries who prefer the safety afforded by assignments to useless committees, anodyne and empty speech, and bland, incremental actions that mirror what they presume others want to do. Lions attract our attention by roaring, but marginally competent sheep rule our country by refusing to rock the boat while allowing the rushing tide of middlebrow consensus to carry them merrily along.

Therefore, the key to success in most organizations and situations is to keep quiet, keep your head down, and smile at the stupidest ideas of the majority of those around you. Thinking will only get you into trouble, and mastering the jargon of inaction can take you quite far.

The next time you complain about the spinelessness of our leaders and their refusal to firmly address any of the many core problems plaguing our country, keep in mind that Senator Silence and Congresswomen Snivel reached their exalted positions due to their talents for utilizing empty prose, avoiding action, and issuing soothing press releases. Fixing problems or taking a stand creates instant antagonism, so parroting what your pollsters tell you voters want (setting aside the self-reinforcing problem that many people are themselves parroting the propaganda spoon-fed to them by lying politicians) is the tried and true path to electoral success.

Of course, many of the obvious catastrophes besetting our nation and world have been created and worsened by the many marginally competent sheep now in charge, and this frustrates more and more Americans who realize bold and forceful action is desperately necessary but will (most certainly) not be forthcoming from the chair warmers passing out our tax money to the other marginally competent sheep who support them. Moreover, those who advocate for much needed strong and uncompromising action are going to find a lot of frightened voters voicing their dismay over the harsh realities that resources are finite, sacrifices are necessary, and rules must be enforced. 

Although many may adore the parent who allows them to eat jelly doughnuts for dinner, skip doing their homework, and leave their beds unmade, the long-term damage caused by allowing indolence and encouraging irresponsibility becomes apparent in relatively short order. These self-created disasters can be ignored for a surprisingly long time, but even those who are most determined to remain blind and ignorant must acknowledge that crime, debt, dysfunction, and incompetence are now enveloping America—which is a real problem for the marginally competent sheep today in charge of our country’s accelerating decline.

However, keeping up the comforting illusion that most Americans can continue to happily skip by—until doom comes calling—is necessary for supposed leaders who succeed by bleating comforting platitudes and resolutely refusing to address the many, many national troubles that their inaction allows to fester, which has proven to be a durable path to winning elections while our society, security, and economy race along toward inevitable—yet likely avoidable—collapse. 

Remaining maddeningly elusive about proposed solutions often works better than troublesome specificity. Just ask Hillary Clinton, who battered Americans with briefing books in 2016—and lost. It is unsurprising that Kamala Harris has adopted a sheep-like strategy of offering little of substance but promising a hazy “joy” if she is elected. This allows her to avoid any discussion of the fatal disconnect between our finances and our aspirations while promising that someone else (in this case the apparently unworthy wealthy) will bear the burden of covering our spiraling national debts. 

Never mind that many of Kalamity Kamala’s proposals, such as an ill-conceived and insanely complicated tax on “unrealized” capital gains (starting with “the rich” but sure to work its way down to us all as Democrats grow desperate for cash), are impracticable—and betray a stunning ignorance of basic economic theory. Any idea can, of course, later be hastily renounced or revised if the winds of fickle voter opinion should suddenly change, which is easy to do if you are a marginally competent sheep who has risen to a shockingly high position by promising much—but accomplishing very, very little.

Should Kamala Harris win election to the Oval Office despite her flip-flops, evasions, and willful ignorance of facts, it will be the most incredible possible proof of my colleague’s depressing career advice from many decades ago. Nonetheless, the question of whether the Presidency, which daily requires firm action and stern resolve, can be successfully occupied by someone whose ambitions allow them to change their beliefs with the alacrity of a child changing their socks is one that we should seek to answer before we cast our votes in November.