I notice Tucker Carlson is getting denounced as opportunistic and exploitive.<\/p>\n
We all want to be appropriately opportunistic and exploitive (within ethical boundaries). We evolved to pounce on opportunities and to exploit paths to more status, power and resources.<\/p>\n
ChatGPT says: Opportunistic gets tossed around like it marks a moral failure. In real life it usually marks a person who\u2019s awake. You want to see openings. You want to move when others freeze. You want to capitalize when the window is there. That\u2019s how careers move. That\u2019s how cases settle. That\u2019s how relationships form. People who never take opportunities end up bitter at those who do.<\/p>\n
Exploiter gets the same sloppy treatment. Most people use it when they\u2019re angry that someone else seized value they didn\u2019t. Strip away the moral theater and the core idea is simple. We all want to extract value from situations. We all want to benefit from the terrain we\u2019re in. You\u2019re already exploiting the road system, the legal system, the marketplace, the trust of your clients, and the goodwill of your colleagues. That\u2019s not sinister. That\u2019s what it means to be a functioning adult in a complex environment.<\/p>\n
The real line isn\u2019t between opportunistic and non-opportunistic. The line is between doing it cleanly or doing it dirty. Between earning trust or burning it. Between sensing an opening and taking it with skill, or taking it with desperation and deceit.<\/p>\n
Once you see that, the cheap putdowns lose their sting. The game becomes clear. And you get to choose how you play it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I notice Tucker Carlson is getting denounced as opportunistic and exploitive. We all want to be appropriately opportunistic and exploitive (within ethical boundaries). We evolved to pounce on opportunities and to exploit paths to more status, power and resources. ChatGPT … Continue reading