The Art of Villainy
30th May 2015
Richard Fernandez does the modern unravel.
In the last few hours two news stories have developed in parallel but with strikingly contrasting plotlines. The first was the re-election by a convincing margin of FIFA president “Sepp” Blatter. The second was the indictment for making false statements in connection with blackmail, of former speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.
If these were television shows, a reviewer juxtaposing them might be tempted to conclude that the joint moral of the stories isn’t that “crime doesn’t pay”, but that crime should pay enough to provide for its own defense. For in the one relative “innocence” — if such a term exists — is no protection against punishment. The other show proves the only protection against payback is power. Innocence and guilty are empty terms. It is the power to hire lawyers, or intimidate your pursuers that really matters.
Thus the surest protection against retribution isn’t a lack of guilt but the surfeit of it. If one plans on being a crooked sports association president the smart strategy is to go all the way. For it doesn’t pay to corrupt only some parts of the system, leaving the honest bits to turn against you. The only logical course is to corrupt all of it. Nuke its governance from orbit. It’s the only way.