A few days ago, I was at the gym, taking a break and looking at the squat rack with hate. I picked up my phone in the hope that some interesting bit of news would keep me from going back to exercise. And sure enough, I found it:
“Spain expels two US spies for infiltrating secret service”
The short and long of it is that the U.S. is spying on Spain, an ally country. Two American spies, associated with the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, convinced two Spanish counterparts — agents of the CNI, Spain’s equivalent of the CIA — to secretly hand over classified info.
The Spanish are confused. “What do Americans have to pay for if we give them everything they ask for?”
I’m sure there are details I don’t know of this bizarre story. But from the outside, it looks so immensely stupid.
Let’s ignore the part about the U.S. pointlessly spying on a friendly and accommodating ally.
Let’s just look at the two Spanish CNI agents who made it possible. One was an area chief, head of one of the sections that make up the CNI. The other was his assistant.
The area chief was a veteran of the agency. He was well-known. His colleagues were shocked.
Why? How? You can probably guess.
As per the article I read at the gym, this area chief risked freedom, career, and self-respect “in exchange for a large sum of money.”
It’s hardly the first time someone has done stupid things for a large sum of money. But this case is an example of uniquely and immensely stupid.
First off, this area chief must be a person who was vetted and selected over a number of years for loyalty, intelligence, and trustworthiness.
And yet, not only did the area chief steal classified data from within the Spanish CIA, which you can imagine has all kinds of really complex and high-tech safeguards to prevent the detection of leaks…
… but apparently he was so careless that he was caught during a routine security check, when it became obvious he was accessing data that he didn’t need to perform his duties.
Now that the treason has become known, both the area chief and his assistant face 6 to 12 years in prison… the contempt of all their former colleagues and friends… and lifelong shame to carry around, which I estimate weighs as much as a baby rhinoceros.
Point being:
Greed.
Never underestimate how it warps people’s minds and how appealing to this motive can get people — including smart, upright, and self-possessed people — to do shockingly improbable, stupid, and even treasonous things.
Now I’ve gotta take a step back. Because I’m not telling you to tempt others to treason. Nor to engage in anything criminal.
But if you think that people in your marketplace are too this or too that to be tempted by pure greed… then remember the CNI area chief and that baby rhinoceros around his neck.
Remembering this image might just be a legal and quite smart opportunity to make a large sum of money.
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