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Yes, I'm really a private investigator, and that's my Virginia registration card to prove it.

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I always wanted to be a detective as a child. Then as a young adult, the only agency near me hiring was Washington, DC. They were paying $26,400. Money wasn't the problem though. What made me walk away from the academy on the second testing day was something entirely different. It's related to a life lesson not written in books.

The tests were easy and I finished mine early. While waiting and on break before the next step, a psychological evaluation if I remember correctly, I went down stairs to look around a little. On the bottom floor, right inside the main entrance, every fallen officer's badge was displayed on the wall.

You have to remember, that this was one short step away from achieving one of my dreams. I would become a beat cop to later become a detective. It was the only sure way to become one. What I saw on that wall though made me walk away. I left the building and never thought twice about coming back.

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What did I see that made me change my mind?

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Each badge had a short explanation of the officer's death beneath it. The wall appeared to be a memorial to their service. I saw a pattern however, and it was not one to memorialize or be proud of as a police department. At least every fourth badge was that of an officer shot by another officer. At least 25% of them had been killed by other cops!

Didn't the people putting those badges up there see the pattern? My suspicion is that they did, and the badges were not there as a memorial. The wall didn't praise the dead. It used them as a warning. A lot of those officers died needlessly, and I didn't have to wonder why. All I knew is that my badge would probably be there one day.

Washington, DC's police force is notorious for being corrupt. Officers have been involved in numerous dirty scandals with very serious crimes being committed and ignored. I could never do that. There's no way I would turn my back on such things, and then I would have a target on my back. I realized that long ago and well before I became a voluntaryist too.

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The lesson therefore, that is not taught anywhere that I've seen, is that loyalty almost always come before the truth.

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This is what explains the "thin blue line." It is also what explains why friends will cover up the crimes of other friends. People will go out of their way, even commit murder, to remain loyal. The truth means so much less than loyalty to most people because that's how life works. In times of hardship and trouble, loyalty tends to be more valuable to survival.

If you are on the same mission as those around you and you have the same objectives in life, the truth will be bent in favor of loyalty. If you love your child, you will excuse their transgressions. You'll remain a loyal parent no matter what evil they have committed. Politicians do this all the time too and protect each other even when horrible crimes are committed.

It is an important principle to understand because people need to pick their friends wisely. What fraternity have you joined and for what reasons? I hope their goals in life are the same as yours, for one day you might have to choose between bending the truth and remaining loyal. You may have to decide between throwing away your entire life or protecting a friend.

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Most people around me will never understand loyalty.

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They do not understand that my friends, people furthering liberty and in the fight on a regular basis, mean the world to me. You are not just attacking me. You are attacking the greater cause. I have picked my friends wisely, and we share each other's burdens. We have each other's backs. As long as you do not betray me or the cause we share, I will be loyal to you.

All the petty details and subjective truths do not matter as much. It's kinda funny actually that someone close to me suggested recently, "You're a PI. Don't you care about the truth?!" The truth??? There are very few truths in life worth being disloyal over my friends. I didn't become a PI to expose the truth no matter the personal cost or cost to my cause either.

My father, when he first found out that I had become a PI, sternly warned me to be careful. He told me to be careful about who my work would harm. I love my father and thanked him for the warning, but I already understood the meaning behind his warning. I'll pick my battles wisely as I have picked my friends.

Perhaps one day more people will understand that truth is not all its cut out to be. It's vague and twisted. Everyone has a different version of it. Justice is the same. What you feel is just might not be my definition of it. Private investigators have to juggle truth, justice, and loyalty all at the same time.

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Sometimes loyalty wins over truth because the greater cause demands it, and sometimes justice wins over truth because people have it coming to them. Karma's a real bitch.

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