In the game of deception, no character is more potent and deadly than the weak link. You should not only be wary of those that strut their feathers proudly, they are obvious targets and have obvious weak points. You should also be wary of are those who are quiet, disgruntled, and weak-willed. They craft a delicate facade that convinces everyone around them that they are powerless, and that they are constantly preyed upon. These Machiavellian naturals only feign weakness to fool you.

The weak link is irrational. He only acts out of selfish instinct but has convinced himself and others around him that he is not selfish – that he is in fact virtuous. Finding himself losing the power struggle, the weak link must find a chink in the armor of others, and this is often compassion. If the weak link can garner empathy from others, then he can gain in stature and political strength. He does so by appealing to principles that he neither believes in nor follows, but he knows that these principles are universally recognized. He does not have a personal philosophy, but understands which values the gullible fall for. He tries to believe in his bullshit but he fails to do so as his regular behavior does not exhibit any adherence to a philosophy of compassion. The weak link regularly spends his time pursuing selfish modes of action but he is suspiciously uncritical of his own behavior. In fact, this lack of self-awareness and personal responsibility is the reason he has become a weak link.

His master strategy is to appeal to fairness. Since it is in everyone’s best interest to play a fair game, it is difficult to reject the weak link’s call for greater fairness. And yet, even under fair conditions, the weak link refuses to play the game because he lacks competence, focus, and resolve.

The weak link is a perpetual seeker of shortcuts. By victimizing himself, by appearing to be the biggest loser of a rigged game, he garners sympathy from other big losers. You should avoid these people, do not associate with them, for if you do, they will eventually corrupt your mind. It is naive to believe that you can change people, but it is more naive to believe that you cannot be changed.