Why I Hate Plagiarism

I know.  I've brought this up before. 

Harvard President Claudine Gay is now the former president of Harvard...and yes, she brought it on herself. Along with two other Ivy League presidents (one who also resigned), Gay refused to do what she should have during testimony in Congress -- be impartial. 

Gay said she simply “neglected to clearly articulate that calls for the genocide of Jewish people are abhorrent and unacceptable, and that I would use every tool at my disposal to protect students from that kind of hate” during her congressional testimony last month.

    "Neglected??" After she resigned, Gay wrote:

“I believe in the people of Harvard because I see in you the possibility and the promise of a better future...These last have helped make clear the work we need to do to build that future — to combat bias and hate in all its forms, to create a learning environment in which we respect each other’s dignity and treat one another with compassion, and to affirm our enduring commitment to open inquiry and free expression in the pursuit of truth.”

If she had only expressed this during her testimony, she would have been fine. 

But what happened next wasn't anything to be proud about, either. For years, accusations that Gay was plagiarizing have apparently been hushed up. Turns out there are more than FIFTY examples. Gay admitted she had done this a few times, at least...but she didn't mean to do it. She had good intentions. And she'd asked for corrections. (A check showed corrections were requested twice -- AFTER Gay's 'flubs' were mentioned publicly these last few weeks.) 

She finally stepped down, conveniently remaining on staff. (And at her original salary, too.) The school paper, the Harvard Crimson, tried to defend her by saying:

A sober-minded assessment of the plagiarism charges indicates that Gay’s behavior constitutes plagiarism, but since the errors do not appear intentional, they do not warrant her resignation.” 

But it also admitted, "To be clear, sloppiness of this kind is unbefitting of a Harvard president." 

Unbefitting, indeed. But it was just carelessness, right? Misappropriating others' words and phrases has gotten plenty of people in trouble, including Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin. (The latter resigned from the Pulitzer board because of this. She was also on the board of directors at -- you guessed it -- Harvard. Although she admitted to some errors, Kearns Goodwin blamed her staff's sloppiness for most of her problems.) Martin Luther King's work included several examples of plagiarism. Sadly, I've admired the writing of all of these people. 

The Associated Press had the chutzpah to initially charge that accusing people of plagiarism (even if they actually did it, implied the AP) was "a new conservative weapon." In other words... who cares if they did?

Well, I do. 

If you're swiping someone else's words and work, then presenting them as your own, you're saying something very clearly:

Stealing? That's not so bad, right? After all, everyone does it. 

And it's easy to come to that conclusion. As Financial Samurai, one of my favorite bloggers, points out, his columns are often grabbed, then presented on 'scraping websites' as someone else's. No attributions, though sometimes the people have the balls to add a link to the original post. (Yes, it pisses him off, too, but he figures if he can't do anything to stop them -- and he usually can't -- then just grin and bear it.)

Here's the problem: IT'S STILL STEALING. And it's still wrong. 

I've written a number of books. Hundreds of articles. Literally thousands of posts on this blog. I've also had my work stolen. 

Because I often write about historical topics, I use quotes, references and items I've gleaned from research. Things that should be attributed, when I use them. Just like others, I mess up a few times --it's easy to do. And if former president Gay only did it a few times, I could accept her excuses more easily. (Although I don't agree that it was 'racism' that made people pick on her, and eventually show her the exit. Nice try, though.)

 BUT --  If you start out determined not to plagiarize in the first place, it makes things easier. And if you promptly fix your mistakes, even better. But that means that you must admit others may write better than you. Their words may be more memorable than yours, and their conclusions more compelling. It means that when you write, you are actually benefitting from generations of writers, teachers and thinkers before you. 

And possibly you may not be the brilliant genius you thought you were, after all.

There's another issue at play here. It's a matter of CHARACTER. 

It's not the house, the car, the wallet -- or even the (gasp!) political party. It's the person.

If you don't see a problem with stealing, not only does that say something about you -- it suggests you wouldn't have a problem if others did it, either. Even your own children. Why not? After all, 'everybody does it.' 

So why not lie and cheat about other things, as well? Like your education, or your work experience, or your birthright? If it makes you look better, why not announce that you attended college on a full-ride educational scholarship (instead of half-time, and based on need), graduated in the top of your class (umm, it was in the bottom) -- and (wink wink) won an international prize for your work? (oops, nowhere to be found.)

I'm referring to, of course, none other than our esteemed current President. And that's just his educational credentials. (I remember mine -- why can't he remember his?) Don't even ask about the family references.

Are you running for office? Then definitely you'll need to lie and exaggerate. Two shining examples:

Was Biden arrested in South Africa, supporting Nelson Mandela?  Nope.

Did he 'borrow' quotes in his speeches from several well-known politicians, including Kinnock (whom he sometimes credited -- and often didn't) and Robert F. Kennedy?  Yup.

Even Snopes examined the accusations about Biden's truthfulness (or lack of it)-- and marked them as 'TRUE.'

"I exaggerate when I'm angry...' Biden has said.

In his memoir, Promises to Keep, he wrote:

When I stopped trying to explain to everybody and thought it through, the blame fell totally on me. I had been immature and skipped class and blown the Legal Methods paper. I was the one who thought it was good enough to just get by in law school. I lost my temper in New Hampshire. What I'd said about my academic achievements was just faulty memory or lack of knowledge. I hadn't remembered where I finished in my law school class. I hadn't cared. But to say "Wanna compare IQs?" was so stupid. All of it was my fault, and I didn't want to compound the mistakes.

In other words: 'I was sloppy and lazy -- and messed up. "Faulty memory -- or lack of knowledge." Others would call it stupidity or carelessness. (Or arrogance.) You don't have to earn your achievements -- that's not necessary. Just say that you have them.... it's just as good. 

"I was wrong, but I was not malevolent in any way,'' he said. ''I did not intentionally move to mislead anybody. And I didn't. To this day I didn't."

'Sure, I may have been wrong. And I did it. but I didn't do it on purpose, or trying to be mean. It wasn't intentional. No harm done...right?'

For someone who values his reputation for honesty and accuracy so little -- that doesn't give me much comfort. And so easily losing his temper? (What's he acting like during critical situations?) Bear in mind -- this is coming from someone whose decisions and actions have directly affected our country for years -- even decades. 

    My dad used to say, "Your good name is your most-valued possession." If I'm dishonest in my writing -- and speaking -- and everyday actions and decisions -- odds are good that my honesty and integrity aren't that good, either. I'm not perfect. I've messed up, too. But I need to take responsibility for my actions -- not just shove them off on others, or glibly excuse them. 

*Acknowledge it.

*Fix it...as much as possible.

*In the future, don't do it.

     For my dad's sake, who I loved. And for my God's sake, who I also love -- and want to honor.