More thoughts about ethics

We had some fireworks last night over Amelia writing up Des. Des felt that she should have given him a warning before writing him up and questioned whether or not her reasons for writing him up were even valid. Neither one of them could remember the details but Amelia ended up in tears and denied even writing Des up and then screamed at him for bringing it up in the first place.

It highlights their different way of looking at rules and loyalty. Amelia really believes that the rules are the rules and everyone should follow them. Des believes that personal loyalty comes first. Amelia is often berated as a tattletale by Des. She definitely takes HVSS at their word that anybody can write anybody up with out fearing reprisals. Ray has worried about her in the past, that she'll be unpopular or suffer social repercussions for writing people up. It's hard to help her find a balance between when to let people know what's going on and when to mind her own business. Des needs to learn that just because someone is your friend doesn't mean that they can't be held to the same standards as everyone else. These are things that we struggle with throughout our lives, it's hard to explain the little nuances of each situation.

Why is it important to behave ethically? well, from a practical standpoint societies run a lot more smoothly if everyone agrees on certain principles and acts accordingly. I am so grateful that I don't have to spend a lot of time worrying about being robbed or murdered. It frees up my time to do more productive things. Trust and accountability go hand in hand here. I have read about certain areas of our country where people who report malfeasance are terrorized for being "snitches" and I feel terrible for the people who have to live there. In situations like that you can't trust those around you. You can't trust them to behave ethically or to come to your defense should you come under attack. That has got to be so stressful.

I also believe that certain acts are inherently right or wrong and even when you have the best reasons for committing a wrong act it is still a wrong act. I hate when I hear people say "Well, I try not to judge. You may not know the whole story, etc. etc." Fuck that. I judge. I also forgive and I give second chances but I call it like I see it. Take the "would you shoot hitler?" conundrum. If you could go back in time and shoot Hitler before he gets going would you do it? Yes? You think it's justified? To me, you may save millions of lives and prevent WWII but guess what, you're still a murderer and it's still wrong to kill somebody. Can you live with the consequences of taking another human's life? Fine. My point is that we judge all the time and we should judge, we should take a stand. and we should forgive and offer opportunities for redemption.

Being a parent has made me realize how many of my ideas I take for granted. No, beliefs. I find that I have to examine why I'm trying to teach my kids certain things and it's embarrassing how little thought I had given to this stuff before.