At the point it becomes most interesting the author cops-out with a trite conclusion.<p>This speculation:<p><pre><code>    Hypercrisy might thus be a signal of submissiveness—one
    that is exaggerated in creatures that feel themselves to
    be in the wrong place in the hierarchy. By applying
    reverse privileges to themselves, they hope to escape
    punishment from the real dominants.
</code></pre>
.. steers further awry:<p><pre><code>    Perhaps the lesson, then, is that corruption and
    hypocrisy are the price that societies pay for being
    led by alpha males (and, in some cases, alpha females).
    The alternative, though cleaner, is leadership by wimps.
</code></pre>
For those interested, the model for austere leadership is Cincinnatus: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnatus" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnatus</a>