How Joe Does It

How does a super egotistical self-serving individual manage to get away with all this? Moreover, why do people let him/her exhibit this type of behavior? Good questions.

The answer to the first question is that Joe is usually charismatic, and has very good political skills. Joe is often a popular guy. Why wouldn't he be? He talks a good game. If you have power or powerful relatives, he can be very charming and he doesn't hesitate to be generous to his supporters, although his generosity is usually with someone else's money.

He often takes advantage of people's passive behavior to bully people them and he will lie and cheat to get his way. He will also start rumors about a person who stands in the way of his benefiting from his corrupt behavior. Finally, no one, not even family members, can convince him to change his ways nor will consequences for his behavior change him. He will just blame someone else for his problems and go about his “business as usual”.

Have you met a Joe on your reservation? Please give us your own Joe story.

You can go to the Spirit Lake Ethical Questions forum to read about Joe (and his sister, Joette) on reservations throughout the country.