What if there was a secret third option between being ravenous opportunistic piranhas and being steadfastly loyal to the patronage network you came up in. What if you could be charitable and not sweat the small stuff, but also refuse to pull your punches against shit like abuse and rape just because the perpetrators are your friends or a "respected elder."
We might, for lack of any known existing concept for such, invent a term and call this hypothetical third option being "principled."