University of Virginia Library

'Clarified' System

More precisely, the new
'Democratic' or 'clarified' Honor
System (1) maintains its traditional
pretensions of ineffability, (2)
hysterically clings to its 'morally
imperative' sentence of eternal
proscription, (3) yet now interprets
its Ideal Dogma, whose very purity
once theoretically justified its
vicious consequences, in accordance
with whatever the traffic will bear.

Thus we resolve not to lie
EXCEPT beyond Albemarle's
boundaries, to facilitate seduction,
EXCEPT when placing some
credulous bartender in peril of
losing his ABC license.