Something to Work On
"The results of karma cannot be known by thought, and so should not be speculated about. Thus, thinking, one would come to distraction and distress.
"Therefore, Ananda, do not be the judge of people; do not make assumptions about others. A person is destroyed by holding judgments about others."
-Anguttura Nikaya
"Therefore, Ananda, do not be the judge of people; do not make assumptions about others. A person is destroyed by holding judgments about others."
-Anguttura Nikaya
posted by J.B.P. at 10:25 PM
1 Comments:
A passage from a book that I just read. A bit of a different perspective on the topic of ethics... pardon the length:
"The thing is... possessions are fun. For example, I'm not into cars. I have no idea how many cylinders my Audi has, or, now that I think about it, what a cylinder is. No idea. But when I look at it, Jones, I love it. Because it's mine and it's nicer tahn everybody else's."
Jones says "That's one of the worst things I've ever heard."
She holds out a glass of brown liquid over ice and he takes it. "There's nothing wrong with enjoying life. In the end, what else can you do?" She raises her glass and takes a gulp.
He sits beside her. "Well I don't want to get too radical,but what about helping other people? Leaving the world a better place?"
Eve coughs compulsively. She puts her glass on the table, which takes two attempts, and digs in her bag for a tissue. "Jesus, you nearly killed me. Whoo> Okay. Tell me how you justify buying a new pair of shoes."
"What?"
"When there are starving people in Africa, what kindo f person spends two hundred bucks on shoes? See, once you buy into that paradigm, it's a bottomless pit. You can never feel good about yourself while there's anybody in the world poor or hungry, which there always is, Jones, and has been since the dawn of time, so you feel guilty and hypocritical all the time. I'm consistent. I admit I don't care. you want me to reassure you that Alpha is ethical, but I'm not going to do it, because ethics is bullshit. It's the spin we put on our lives to justify what we do. I say, be big enough to live without rationalizations."
"just because I believe in ethics doesn't mean I have to be Mother Teresa. There's a middle ground."
"Ah the famous middle ground. Jones, you're one of those people who's never had to make a decision between ethics and results. You went to college and learned that companies with satisfied employees tend to be more profitable, and you went, 'Oh good'. Because that let you off the hook; you didn't have to decide what you'd do if it was a choice betweeen one or the other. You won't work for a tobacco or gun manufacturer because those are bad companies; you'll only work for good ones, helping them to improve customer satisfaction and produce better products and -oh hey!- just by coincidence, those things increase company profits and get you promoted. Well, you're in the real world now, and soon enough you'll realize that sometimes you do have to choose between morals and results, that companies do it every day, even the ones you thought were good - and its the managers who choose results who get the promotions. You'll fret about this for a few days or months or maybe even years until finally, one day, you'll decide you need to make the tough decisions because this is business, and that's what every else is doing. But because you feel guilty about having a six figure salary and a current-year car, you'll sponsor a child in the Sudan and give ten bucks a year to the United Way and you're still being ethical most of the tiem-that is, when it doesn't get in the the way or doing your job-and just because you lied a little or stole a little or took a job at a company that makes money off the backs of fourteen year old factory workers in Indonesia doesn't mean you're not a good person. But you'll stop bringing up the subject of ethics. That, Jones, is the middle ground. You should thank me. I just saved you years of wrestling with your conscience."
-Company, SLC
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