So, I had a discussion today with my trainees regarding the integrity of my company when we were taking a beating during the years when we couldn't match the numbers other companies were putting on the board. When it came out later they were cheating, we were certainly vindicated, but we spent a lot of years with our stock in the toilet at least partially because of it.
Then this evening, L&O SVU had a case regarding a psychiatrist who participated in "torture-lite" in Iraq and didn't think it really conflicted with her Hippocratic Oath.
So, the question is, when do you abandon some principles for others when they conflict? When do you just abandon your principles? If you find a wallet with $1000, do you return it? Return it empty? Take the money and send the wallet back anonymously? Take the money and chuck the wallet?
If you're against war, is it ever okay? What about the US entrance into WWII? Is it okay if you try everything else first?
If you're against hate, is it okay to hate a racist? Is it okay to judge the whole person based on the fact that they are a racist?
If you're against murder, do you convict the parent that kills a child's killer? Is murder ever justifiable? Are you against the death penalty, even if it's only given out when someone is convicted of murder?
3 comments:
I would say that it's not okay to go against your principles. Having said that, I'm sure that adjustments need to be made on occassion.
In the case of the wallet. Of course it would need to be turned in with all money installed. Even if I desperately needed money, I could not justify in any way that it would be alright for me to take any of their money. How would I know if the money wasn't needed more desperately by the owner of the money?
As for war, I beleive it is okay to go to war if there are no other options. War should never be entered into lightly, no matter who you are.
It is okay to hate the fact that people are racist, but I wouldn't hate the whole person because of one bad part. I would hate that they are racist and try to help enlighten them as to why we shouldn't judge others, but how could it help to hate the person?
Murder is not justifiable, but it is certainly understandable. As a parent of a killed child I may personally FEEL justified in doing so, but it would still need to be punished since it is against the law to kill others.
I know it's hard to seperate emotion from intellect, but I try to when ever I can to help me to amke better decisions. Some situations are much stickier and hard to make the right decisions in. I don't know that everything is really all very black and white in this life anyway. We need to make the best decisions we can based on the facts at hand and then we simply need to live with the consequences of our decisions.
cinj is right on. Taking money in a wallet is wrong, wrong, wrong. Going to war without reason is wrong. but, when attacked, sometimes you must fight back. And if my family is attacked, I would fight back. And if my child was murdered, I would want justice. all that being said, each individual situation needs to be judged on its merits.
Well, I'm actually NOT against the death penalty so...
But, if there were an I.D. in it, I would return the wallet, money and all. That's just the right thing to do.
If someone murdered my kid, or worse, especially if I were overseas, I would probably take them out. They couldn't punish me anyway =) In the US - you better believe I'd be trying for some kind of justice.
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