RE: "Opportunistic"

["McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com>]

> From: Ned Bedinger [mailto:doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com] pointed out:
[...]
> > When I compare the primary meanings from both dictionaries, it's the
> > final phrase that brings out the nasty connotation.
> 
> That certainly is an understatement. It seals the deal on those 
> opportunistic policymakers.
> 
> But here's something else. when I sat down last night with my aging 
> book-club edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), I 
> discovered 
> that I was the one blinkered by preconceptions. The 
> definition from your 
> Concise Oxford is the same as OED, but OED traces it back to a deeper 
> well, through first appearances in written English in the mid 1800s, 
> then to French political philosophy before that, and ultimately to 
> Italian, where it originated. As it happened, opportunistic 
> people were 
> the ones who had to set aside their own opinions and preferences in 
> order to fulfill their roles as political actors who made 
> public policy 
> by balancing many interests. IOW, the principles that 
> opportunists are 
> said to disregard are /t/h/e/i/r/ /o/w/n/ /p/e/r/s/o/n/a/l/ 
> /pr/r/i/n/c/i/p/l/e/s/. The opportunists of yore were more like 
> dedicated public servants than rapacious scalliwags. If, that is, the 
> OED is to be believed. Myself, I'm down with it.

Well, as a small-L libertarian, I consider my principles far superior to
public principles, especially socialistic ones (in the modern sense of
"socialist"... I know where it leads if you trace that one back a bit -
it encounters a reversal much like the one that "liberal" does).
Therefore, I have disdain for opportunistic politicians (bit redundant,
there, I suppose...) because... well, that way lies political (or worse,
philosophical) discussion. We've covered the different apprehensions of
the meaning of the word "opportunistic" and there reasons, so that's a
good stopping point.

Thanks,

 - Kevin
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