I am really enjoying reading ‘The Man’. You are obviously a man of many talents.
I thought I would just make a few philosophical remarks about your analysis of chapter 1. Towards the end of the analysis you pose the following question in regards to the moral assessment of the narrators act of paying for the aboriginal woman’s medicine, “So does that count [ is his action morally praiseworthy] or do you only get kudos when you perform an act of kindness?”.
The Two Schools of Moral Philosophy
Before giving my own answer to that question i would like to give a little philosophical background for any readers not familiar with some of the technical terms used within moral philosophy. There are, broadly speaking, two main schools of thought within moral philosophy.
Utilitarianism which originates from the English philosophers Jeremy Bentham and James Mill. Utilitarianism is an ‘externalist’ moral theory which locates the moral worth of an action in its consequences. De-ontological theories developed by the German philosopher Kant are ‘internalist’ and focus on the Subjective intentions of an agent.
When is an Act of Kindness Not an Act of Kindness?
With that out the way let us return to the ‘Man’. An internalist would say his action [paying for the medicine] was praiseworthy if he acted from some genuine empathy or sympathy (although the latter can be seen as patronising) towards the aboriginal woman.
Kant on Moral Kindness
Kant would say that for praise to be attributed to the action the Man’s internal reasons should be aimed at the welfare of the woman and not for any personal aggrandisement. (i.e. to be seen as a good man by others in which it is his own and not the woman’s welfare that is the ultimate target of the action).
Kant even goes so far as to say that to be morally praiseworthy the action should be contrary to the agents well being. for instance if I give some money to a beggar because of a genuine heartfelt concern for his welfare and happen to receive a tax deduction on the ‘donation’, then it is not a truly moral action. This seems to me to be a step too far.
Internalism Vs Externalism
Why can’t it be that a good man is rewarded for his goodness? If he acts without concern for possible rewards then he still meets the internalist criterion of moral action.
Of course at this stage in the story we can not be sure of the man’s true motives for acting as he does. so from an internalist perspective the jury is still out.
Now to externalism. An externalist would say that the moral worth of the Man’s action is determined by its consequences. But this is ambiguous. Of course, the woman’s daughter needs the medicine and so, on one level the action is good irrespective of the Man’s actual intentions because it results in a greater balance on the whole, of pleasure over pain in the world.
But as with all forms of moral accountancy the credits and debits are never simple.
For example, why is it that the cancer drugs are not free from the national health service. Maybe they are but the women does not know it. Maybe, if she did not get help from the Man and the chemist that she would be forced to look into the matter and receive free medication.
If that was to happen then it would be a better world than the one in which she gets handouts because she would not have to rely on strangers for sympathy and the strangers would be left with more money.
So on balance the utilities are maximised by not giving her money. My view is that like all moral questions there is an eliminable complexity and that true evaluations are hard to come by and require careful reflection on and understanding of all relevant conditions relating to the action. That is why I dislike any simplistic fundamentalism with the one answer fits all attitude.
So in regards to the ‘Man’ and the moral evaluation of his action. I think the jury is still out due to a lack of evidence.
Anthony Bell
Editor’s Note:
Thanks Anthony, you have raised some interesting points.
I wonder if the world would be a better place if no one ever had to think about other people because the state took care of all our needs. Might we not become very selfish and self centered?
I think being able to put oneself in the position of another and being capable of being moved by that experience is a very important trait in a human being and a person not capable of doing that (and there are many people in that position) experiences a sense of lacking or loneliness or a “hole” in their life.
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The Man – A Philosophical Story About the Search for The Meaning of Life
We live in a world that is overcrowded and yet most of the time we live alone. I don’t mean that we live on our own I mean we feel we are on our own. This is what troubles our minds and hurts our hearts. It has been called the human condition.
Have you ever felt real desperation? Some people feel desperate because their life is boring but to the person who has nothing, no job, no money, no home, no safety net and sometimes, little mouths to feed as well (or any combination of these); a boring life would be regarded as something to aspire to.
So far we have met at least three people in this philosophical story who are desperate, I would hazard a guess that the girl in the supermarket, the car salesman and the bush copper all struggle with their own fears as well, we are just not aware of them.
The Bogeyman in the Cupboard
In your life probably everyone you know has a pit of fear somewhere deep down that they don’t let you see. That is why they feel they are alone. They deal with it alone, just like you do.
That works in our day to day lives because it would be hard to function on a daily basis if you were so plugged in to every one that you felt and worse, experienced their deepest fears. Some people are that sensitive and they usually end up going crazy.
Secondly, it is important that we learn how to cope with our own demons. When you were a child in bed trying to sleep and you thought there was a bogey man in the cupboard, it was okay to get up and tell your mum or dad and get them to go and have a look; that is how you learn they love you. If they love you, you must be worth loving and so we learn to love ourselves.
The Aboriginal girl is loved by her mum. Her love for her daughter motivated her to set out to do the impossible, to get her daughters drugs with no money in her pocket, only a determination to succeed. When she did, she felt no need to be grateful to anyone else for her success because she knew she was responsible for making it happen.
Success or Failure – Either is Acceptable
How many times have you felt the same in your business? You don’t know how you will do it but you are determined to succeed. And somehow you do. How much harder it is when you don’t know how and you don’t believe you will succeed. I would say it is impossible. That is how the Man feels.
The message here is, when you have done everything you can do to bring about success you owe nothing to any one and if you fail there is no disgrace in that either. Doing nothing is not an option to the person who really wants to succeed.
Nietzsche had a strong view about this as Ruth Abbey, Associate Professor Department of Political Science, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, pointed out in a recent radio interview:
“Great people, according to Nietzsche, don’t seek power over other people, they might achieve power over people, but that’s never their goal. Their goal is always something outside. They’re not interested in insulating or putting other people down, they’re always aspiring for some form of greatness – cultural, political, artistic, literary, whatever. They’re not driven by the desire to be judged by the standards of others, and this is one of the things that distinguishes masters from slaves. So the ubermensch (Superman) is not motivated by control over other people, he might achieve that, but that would never be his primary motivation.”
She goes on to say:
“But it’s also important to acknowledge here that great people can fail, according to Nietzsche, without that
Friedrich Nietzsche - it is important to acknowledge that great people can fail
making them any less great. So their greatness shouldn’t be measured by objective standards, or external achievements or deeds. And there are many very poignant passages where Nietzsche talks about the fragility of the great human being, particularly in the modern world where all the forces of conformity, uniformity and mediocrity, are striving against the realisation of true individualism.”
Nietzsche is very worried about the fate of great individuals, he knows they are just as likely to fail as they are to succeed, so we can’t necessarily measure their greatness by their deeds or by their achievements, it’s more a psychological disposition to doing the things that are necessary for success.
So what can we learn from this? A lot, I hope
How to Get Close to Someone You love
First, if you want to get close to someone, you have to be able to walk a mile in their shoes, which means you have to be able to experience what they are experiencing, to genuinely share their happiness, their disappointments, their wins and the demons that scare them to death. We each have the power to lift the veil of loneliness from the ones we love. We can exorcise the bogey man from the cupboard by letting them know that as long as we are there they will never walk alone.
When you can do that; you too will never walk alone because you will always have a loved one by your side.
This is what Anna, the little Aboriginal girl teaches the Man, he learns that he can get close to her and more importantly, he learns that only by genuinely sharing himself with her is he able to get close enough to give her the courage she needs to go to sleep. That is a RELATIONSHIP, the kind we all want but are not always prepared to invest enough of “ourselves” in to get.
If I never wrote another word, I have already told you all there is know. But if it is so easy why aren’t we all happy?
Because you can live a whole lifetime without ever experiencing this vision of love for each other and if you can’t see it or feel it, you can’t share it with one who loves you. And if you can’t share it then the relationship is not as complete as it could be.
The greatest gift a parent can give a child is to let them share and participate in the vision which the parent’s have for the family. As they become a participating member of the family they feel respected and valued and truly experience the love the parents have for them and they learn how to return it and then how to give it. All else is secondary and believe me, I know.
Secondly, we can lose sight of the vision and when there is no vision the spirit will perish. The Man has lost his vision and with it his belief in himself. The Chemist still has his and it helps him live a fruitful life that gives him little pleasure other than that which he creates by giving to others.
That is one aspect.
How to Apply this Philosophy to Business
This philosophy also has great application to our business life as well. I’m running out of space in my self imposed limit but let me point you in the direction I believe leads to success.
Most of my readers have their own web site or blog and some have asked how to get more readers, more comments or how to be successful which I presume means how to make money.
I look at every web site that we link to in the comments as you know, and often I see web sites that try to deliver good quality information but more often I see a web site or blog that is designed as a platform to serve up Google Adwords. There are Ads at the top and in the middle and at the bottom and in the end it is hard to find the content for the ads.
If a reader is served that kind of page what is their immediate reaction? I believe they think, this web site is primarily designed to make money for the web master not to solve my problem.
When I was new in sales there was a guy who was a master salesman, he made huge sales and spoke at all the conferences and I was in awe of him (when I didn’t hate him to pieces out of jealousy). One day on my way to a client, I got in a lift and who did I find there, the master salesman.
He pressed level 5 and when the door closed (I wanted to be sure there was no escape) I said, very fast “Hello my name is Ric Vatner and we only have 30 seconds, I want to know what is the secret to success?”
He was startled but I indicated time was running out and I needed an answer. This is what he told me;
The Secret to Success – Really!
“When you go into a sale there are two problems to solve, One, you need to make the sale to make money. Two, the client has a problem that they want solved. If you concentrate on solving your problem the client will see you are not genuine about solving their problem and they won’t buy from you. If they don’t buy from you, you both still have a problem. And next time bring some toilet paper, you scared the shit out of me”
And that was the last time I ever met him.
I have found over the years that he was spot on and it works in all areas of our life, business and personal . For example, if you are in a relationship, put the other persons feelings before your own, if you both do that you will love each other for ever. It even applies to writing an article or blog post, write it from the reader’s perspective. What do they need to know to make an informed decision? Do this and your readership will multiply even if you know nothing about SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
I know the SEO experts will disagree but I think the moment you look at a blog post that has been fully optimized to maximize CPC and CPA you know whose problem the writer is concentrating on and you are less likely to click through.
Recently I read an article on one of the web sites we link to in the comments forum and I noticed that throughout the latest article there are random links placed in the middle of sentences saying things like “buy steroids”. The article was not about steroids but there were at least 10 links in it to a web site that sells steroids.
Okay, imagine one in a thousand people click the link, do the maths, how many people have you irritated along the way. Will they ever come back? And I can tell you that the other posts on the blog were not like that and are all quite good. I saw this as a sign of desperation, a sign of trying to solve the wrong problem.
What they should have done is write an article that answers the reader’s questions and doubts and then offered a link.
However, and I hope you won’t think I am sermonizing here, I think it is important to believe in your product and if it can do harm or it is demeaning to some people maybe you should look for another product to sell, one that you can be proud to write about. I think you will find that a lot easier to do and ultimately you will be more successful.
I know, I can talk the hind legs off a donkey, that’s why I set a limit for each post and lucky for you, I have reached it.
Don’t forget to come back for Chapter 3 and then vote for whether we continue the story or not.
And to finish off I hope you don’t mind if I take this opportunity to play one of my all time favourite songs. Please join me in singing as loud as you can (If I can’t hear you it is not loud enough ):
The road into town was long, straight and dusty. The kind of road you knew would lead to no where special and the reward for arriving was less than his lowest expectations.
Good.
He spat the word out though there was no one to hear it.
First order of business he thought, get some headache tablets. He had been driving for a long time. How long? He had no idea.
He found a chemist shop, entered and stood behind an Aboriginal woman who was swearing at the chemist. She was wearing an old beanie, yellow with green strips interrupted with holes where a moth had carelessly eaten the line and part of the yellow. Her jacket was an equally old and shabby track suit top that had once been colourful but was now as faded as the jaded look on her face.
“I’ll get me money in a few days but she needs this shit now. Don’t be a bastard all your life. You know she needs it”
Being a shopkeeper in a country town is not as straight forward as it is in the city. When the countryside has been in drought for years and the bank and the post office closed down yonks ago, they are the de facto bank, credit agency, Para-psychologist, social worker and when all else fails; whipping boy.
His face was ……….. impassive. He looked like he wasn’t really there. Where was he right now?
On a beach? No, that’s not his style.
In the garden pulling weeds with a ferocity that he couldn’t bring to work? Maybe.
In the TAB (the ubiquitous betting shop) listening to his horse running a poor race as usual. It didn’t even have the grace to come last. Just one of the pack, like him, ordinary, average, never a winner but not a complete loser either.
“G’on you bastard, you couldn’t deliver milk on time” he would shout to no one in particular. In the betting shop he is one of the boys, he doesn’t lose too much and he always has a funny quip to make when his horse loses. Yes this was his favourite place, the place he goes to in his mind.
The argument went back and forth and the man’s headache was pounding. He stepped forward, “excuse me”
“Piss off” she spat at him.
“Look maybe I can help”
“Oh yea of course. Who the fuck are you. The cops?”
“No” he said hurt. What’s the problem?” He looked at the chemist
“She already owes me more than the money she gets on benefits and now she wants more. I don’t get this stuff for free to distribute to the bloody community” he said. “I have to buy it and pay for it” he said looking at the woman.
“What does she want?” the man said
“Oh, morphine for pain, sleeping tablets, and some heavy shit that costs a fortune”
“Is it for her?”
“No, for her kid”
“Look I’ll pay for it” the man said as the woman looked at him suspiciously. “What do you want?” she asked accusingly. “Like a bit of black do you?”
“No” he answered meekly.
“Oh, your a racist. Black not good enough for you your majesty” she made every word a dagger and threw them all at him with as much brutality as she could muster. She hated the world and right now she hated the two of them the most.
The woman snatched the medicine from the chemist’s outstretched hand. She showed no sign of gratitude. She needed it and they had it but they didn’t need it. Why shouldn’t he pay for it? He’s white and haven’t they caused us black fellas enough trouble. He’s got the money to buy the stuff but he doesn’t need it. She needs it but has no money. “It’s a shit world. If you don’t take what you can get, you don’t deserve it” that was her considered opinion.
She walked out of the shop, her head high. She had got the drugs her daughter needed. It was an unexpected win; you never get anything if you don’t try she thought. The woman, who could have been thirty but looked more like fifty headed home. Along the way she wondered, would her daughter miss just one vial of the morphine? She deserved some too, wasn’t she hurting as well? Why shouldn’t she have just one hit to help her cope.
The man turned to the chemist, “What’s wrong with her daughter?” he asked.
“Cancer” the chemist said. That one word tells the whole story, it is the one word in the English language that is guaranteed to send shivers down your back. It speaks of pain and terror, of sleepless nights and worry filled days. It recounts a tale of hopelessness, of going into battle with spears to fight an enemy that arrives in Planes and rides on tanks.
“How bad is it?” he asked. “Pretty bad. I’m surprised she is still alive. Sometimes I think she just hangs on so I go broke supplying her drugs” the chemist joked. “I don’t want you to think I’m heartless but if I give in too easy, I’ll have the whole lot of ‘em in here demanding free drugs. I’m not the national health system you know”. He said defensively.
The man asked how much the drugs cost. He pulled out his credit card and told the chemist to bill the drugs to his card. He asked him not to tell the woman. “And don’t go crazy with it, I’m not rich but whatever she really needs, just put it on this” he handed the chemist his card.
The chemist shrugged, took down the details while the man swallowed a couple of headache tablets the chemist gave him and washed them down with a plastic cup of water. They looked at each other, no words passed between them but there was a mutual understanding that from now on they shared the burden.
The man left without looking back.
He walked through the drab sun burnt town now descending into the cold dreary months of winter. It was quite empty other than the shopkeepers, two drivers in the garage getting petrol and some mothers pushing strollers aimlessly window shopping and talking to their children who had already learned not to listen.
He felt hungry and seeing a supermarket he decided to buy some supplies. He did a modest shopping and took it to the check out. “Do you take credit cards” he asked. “Sure” came the brief but not unfriendly reply. He handed his card over and waited.
“It’s declined” she said looking at him with a frown. “Do you have another one?” “No” he replied almost dreamily. “Do you want to pay with cash?” she asked summing him up in her practiced way. “No not now, I’ll come back later”
He knew it wouldn’t take long but he had hoped the card would last a little longer.
He sighed. Looked for his car and when he saw it he walked towards it. For a few brief seconds he had a sense of purpose, he knew where he was going but as soon as he arrived it disappeared and he felt emotionally drained.
I’ve always been interested in ways to make philosophy more accessible to people and to that end I am going to try an experiment. I have written three chapters of a story about a man and his search for the meaning of life while his life crumbles around him.
I hope you will tell me what you think of these stories and discuss in the forum what the stories tell you. At the end of the first three chapters you will collectively decide whether or not I continue the series to completion.
So over the next few days I will post new chapters in this series that may become a book and I hope you will discuss them and tell us all what you get out of them, if anything. You can even tell us what you think should happen next. At the end of the first three chapters we will have a vote to decide whether I should continue to write them or drop the exercise. It will be your collective decision. I look forward to hearing your opinion.
Ric Vatner answers questions at Philosophy Corner in Sydney
How are you today? I hope you are having a really wonderful beautiful day today, and everyday. After reading your articles and giving it a lot of thought, I wanted to write and tell you what I believe.
We humans learn new things everyday but sometimes I think we forget them twice as fast. I do certainly admire your point. Yes, very much so, especially your emphasis on Ethics.
The Importance of Being Ethical
Without ethics where would we all be? The whole world is in crisis and suffering because of the lack of ethics.
Think of all those banks that lost so much money gambling; if they had ethics do you think we would have had the Global Financial Crisis? Would so many ordinary people have lost their home, their job and in some cases their family? If BP had ethics would the terrible disaster that is happening off the coast of Florida have occurred? If George Bush and his cronies had ethics, would we have invaded Iraq?
Ethics come from within but it needs to be nurtured. It should be something children learn as part of their upbringing. Ethics are teachable. We can live an ethic because we can learn it. We are not born ethically made people. If we were, the whole world would have existed in heaven and we didn’t know about it.
The Importance of Being a Role Model
We are born with the natural instinct and intuition for ethics. This natural instinct has to be shown the road to goodness and be alerted against wickedness. This is why God sent his many messengers on earth to show his servants (people) the path to goodness.
Those messengers took the responsibility on their shoulders, to teaching ethics of God and many of them lost their lives or were about to, just doing their job.
Role modeling is one of many forms of ethics teaching. A parent, for example, can create a role model for his child by being honest at all times and not break that rule for example, when the telephone rings, and he tells his child to answer saying to the caller that his dad is not home yet.
Role modeling is the practical umbrella under which all other forms of teaching ethics fall. Coaching, mentoring, fostering, enforcing, and embracing are all good examples of how to give people a good ethical education. Develop a good set of ethical rules and as a result ethical behaviors contribute to the existence of an ethical society, where crime rates drop considerably because we respect each other.
However, one can not force ethics on a person. You can’t force someone to behave ethically you can only be a role model for them to follow. This type of teaching ethics can be a long, painful and emotionally costly path. It is certainly not easy.
Ethics in Marriage
Mutual respect in the marriage is the first casualty if one of the partners is ethical and the other is not. Without mutual respect it is impossible to achieve harmony and love in the home and allows restlessness to enter that is neither satisfying or productive.
Meaning, such ethical values as we are passionate about should be discussed at the beginning of the marriage and both partners should make a commitment to it.
Mutual respect leads to and includes loyalty, fidelity, dependability, faithfulness, and long term commitment. If one partner ceases to act in this way the immediate consequence is that the other partner pays the price if they want to maintain the marriage responsibilities. This can work for a short term and there is time to work out the issues but here begins the inevitable road to separation and when they one day ask, how did we grow so far apart, they need only look back to this day.
An Ethical Society is Not an Impossible Dream
An ethical marriage or an ethical society may sound like an impossible mission or a dream too good to come true, unless in a Utopian society, but, we are for ever held responsible, not only in the eyes of the beholder, but also in the eyes of the coming generations, for creating a platform that gives emphasis to the theme and the purpose of the whole education system.
The rule of the thumb should be to instill the well regarded and highly valued ethics in our society into the coming generations from a very young age. Furthermore, we are obliged to examine about our own values honestly. Is our goal the real creation of an ethical, prosperous, healthy, and advanced society that strides with the principles of the advanced first world countries? Are we contributing to that goal, no matter in how small a way?
The Responsibilities of Parents
Parents’ responsibilities in life are not limited to accountability for providing bread and butter for the table but also providing something equally as imperative, love, compassion, and appreciation of their children’s needs and talents.
Respect and care are very important ingredients in the formula of Ethics. When a son sees that his father opens the door for his mother to proceed, when the older brother takes off his hat and bends his back a little to greet his fiancé, when a young girl’s mother welcomes the husband with a soft kiss at the door after a hard day’s work; and when all children gather to show thankfulness to their parents by bringing a symbolic present of gratitude, that’s all respect.
Say No to Violence
Ethics teaches us to say no to violence, if you believe it is wrong to beat your wife or your children you will be less likely to resort to violence against others as well. You will negotiate rather than invade, you will give rather than take, you will win over by good actions and deeds rather than by force.
An ethical person will respect the country in which one lives and not wish to see it harmed. Australia is the most wonderful and beautiful country on earth that is doing its best to make its people first class citizens despite some mishaps in some of our systems, but who is perfect?
Our citizens of Australia live like humans in paradise and many people are very wishful of having the same opportunity.
Anyway, certainly I do congratulate you for bringing up this issue of ‘Ethics’. I think it is definitely a valid point that we all should consider in our perspectives.
The richness in a human is the richness in his mind and heart. Materialism did nothing for the world but lead to more greed and more damage. I am sure you may have been affected one way or another by this financial crisis. Unfortunately this is not the first time; it has happened more than once in the last century alone. it is as if we never ‘learn’ from our mistakes!! Education again!
Believe me; I am greatly thankful for raising the point of ethics. I hope as you are a writer yourself, you can write and publish a lot about this issue in as many areas as possible concerning not only education, but all other aspects of life.
I believe that no matter where you are, and no matter what kind of a job you are doing you can be the educator, the teacher, and the mentor who can make a difference in the world, and can help the world be a better place. This will affect not only those close to you but the whole globe.
Our Legacy to the Future
Let’s leave a legacy to the future generations that make them proud to include us as their ancestors, and talk about us in their school history books. Let’s not have future generations curse us for making their future lives bitter, or damn us for leaving them a heritage to be ashamed of, or swear at us because we abused our planet earth so badly that their lives have become much more miserable than when we first came in.
Honestly, I often ask myself, what bookmark are we leaving in the pages of history – all nations I mean? One must ask where are we heading to?
I am sure there are many respectable people like you who share the same point of view who would like to see Australia and the whole world become a better place to live in and enjoy it greenly and very healthy.
If we pray to God because “he created us”, who should the species we create pray to?
God Creating Life at his Computer
Scientists may say we don’t need to answer that while we are creating microbes but what happens when we develop the ability to string together the code for 3 billion bases and produce our first “human”?
However, long before we create a human from scratch we will have developed the ability to genetically modify babies. Who is the God when we engineer a fetus to produce children to order or for a specific purpose? This question is just as relevant if you have the technology available to do it, but choose not to do it as it is, if you use the technology to do it.
At What Point Do You Become God?
So the question arises, when do you become a God? Is it when you create a single cell life form or must you wait until you have created a complex human life form? Or is there some half way point at which this event happens? I find it hard to justify making a distinction between the point where we create single cell life and a complex one.
The question is not merely one of hypothetical speculation any more. The science is here, the technology just needs to be refined.
What will be the position of species, especially complex species that are created by man to serve his needs? Whatever we call them, will they be slaves?
Apart from all the economic arguments regarding why slavery is not an efficient way to organize an economy, the ethical argument against slavery was basically that all men were created equal in the eyes of God. If we assume there is a God, then no matter who creates the species, it is still created under God’s auspices. Therefore the answer must be that they have equal rights. Of course that argument could equally apply to animals.
Is It Ethically Acceptable to Make A Slave?
But if we prove that life was created by a one in a billion chance chemical reaction does that change the position of man verses animals or vis-à-vis a species specifically created by man?
March of the slaves
A long held belief in God has not endowed animals or the many disadvantaged humans, with equal rights, so what will happen when we take God out of the equation? Is it ethically acceptable that if man has the ability to create a form of human that is genetically programmed to serve mans needs, that he should do so? Will we regard this species as human, animal or android? Should it make any difference?
What if that species looks human, breathes air like us, has a human life span and dies like us? If it eats, feels pain and bleeds like a human? What if it has feelings? Is it ethical to produce a species that has a brain and can learn but is genetically programmed to be a servant or a soldier or a baby maker?
In this experiment Venter’s team injected synthetic DNA into a living cell and watched it take over that cell and ultimately wipe out the previous DNA. The cell then turned blue which the new DNA was programmed to do when it took control of the cell.
The aim is that one day we can inject DNA into a cancer cell and watch it self destruct. That would be good. How would we feel about injecting a male with DNA code and watch him turn into a female or vice-versa? Some would prefer this to the current situation which requires surgery and drugs to achieve a partial solution.
The options are endless but at what point are they the person God created or the person Craig created? Or do we do away with the notion of God?
Bad With God – What Will We Be Like Without?
In this increasingly secular world some would say that it doesn’t matter if you take God out of the equation, but until we can formulate a better foundation for an effective ethical and moral code we should not rush to throw out the old. Archimedes said it eloquently when he cried “Give me somewhere to stand and I shall move the earth”. Unfortunately secular humanists have yet to create a philosophy anywhere near as motivating as a faith in God which can move mountains.
This is the challenge that we now face, to find a philosophy that can move men to put their own self interest aside for the benefit of all mankind that can give them a basis on which to build an ethical moral code to live by and still give them enthusiasm for life.
Unfortunately, even as believers in God, we have still not reached a philosophical position of full equality among all members of the human race as we know it, so how will we incorporate these new man made species when they come. And they will come, the only question is when?
My prediction is that our attempt to address these issues will have consequential effects on our views about race, human equality, the rights of women and children, minorities and even animals.
This debate could be the impetus that we have needed from the beginning to approach a world view that is more encompassing, fair and compassionate for all.
But it will probably mean that we never get that slave, or, maybe, that once again, more people will be in danger of becoming one.
When it comes to making the important decisions that will impact our future our track record so far is etsy ketsy at best.
Once upon a time there was a sweet shop next door to an infants’ school. One day a big poster appeared in the shop window advertising a new chocolate bar. It looked scrumptious and all the children would stop on their way to school and drool over the picture of the chocolate bar cut in half with the red white and blue cream dripping to the floor.
It came in three sizes a very small “kidsbar”, a family size block and a party pack which was huge.
First one boy bought a kidsbar and took it to school and the next day almost every child had pestered their parents to give them enough money to buy one. There were some very ingenious stories told that night.
Soon one enterprising lad realized that if 5 kids put their money together, they could buy a family block and each one would get more pieces than if they bought a kidsbar. He convinced four of his friends to join him and together they purchased a family sized block.
They all got four extra squares but they found there were two left over and five of them. Then the enterprising lad said “well seeing as it was my idea I should get the extra two squares”. No body liked the idea much but neither could they think of a better excuse to claim the extra squares for themselves so they agreed.
This set the precedent so every time they bought a family block the boy got two extra squares, which he sold to kids who could not afford to buy their own bar.
Greed or Good Business Sense?
One day he worked out that if he got two more people to join the group they could afford to move up to the party pack and they would all get two additional squares for the same money but with the money he had earned on the extra two squares he had been selling he could buy two portions.
So he got one more person to join the group and paid for two portions himself. Then he found that there were four squares left over but as he was paying for two portions and the group purchase was his idea he claimed the extra squares. No body could think of a good reason why they should get the squares so they agreed.
Now he had one big portion plus four squares to sell and at the price he was getting for each individual square he found he got all his money back and he had a portion to eat.
Competition is Good – Right?
Soon the other boys in the group realized they could make money selling some of their squares of chocolate and still have a kidsbar’s worth to eat themselves. The enterprising lad saw this competition and realized he was “losing money” because they were making sales from his idea.
So he sold all his chocolate for one week until he had enough to buy three party packs and then announced that the partnership was over. The boys thought they could compete but the enterprising lad dropped the price of his squares and they lost money because they couldn’t sell their squares and then to add insult to injury, they melted.
With the competition gone, the boy raised his prices and added a new brand of chocolate bar, a very expensive Belgian chocolate that the kids loved. Every one knew that Belgian chocolate was much more expensive so they didn’t mind paying more for a square and the boy found he could make more profit selling less of this one than he did on the other bar.
With his thriving business the boy attracted a lot of friends who he would reward with the odd square of chocolate if they pleased him. But if someone didn’t please him, he had lots of friends willing to make their life a misery.
Life was good. He was now the most popular boy in school. The kids looked up to him and he kept the teachers happy with a regular present, of chocolate of course. He was in the perfect business, no matter what ethnic background, what color or religion everyone liked chocolate.
While the other children were out playing he was at home dreaming up ways to expand his empire.
The Business Expands
One night he realized that he was not the only one making good money from his sales and the next day he made sure the sweet shop owner appreciated how much his efforts had increased the shop’s sales. He didn’t need to stress how many other shops sold chocolate.
The shop owner offered him a discount and the boy accepted but added that he would, from now on, pay for all his purchases at the end of the month. Every day the boy would pick up his chocolate order but because he didn’t have to pay for it until the end of the month he started to see his money pile up. He found it more exciting than sport or girls.
His mind turned to how to maximize sales and his profits. He realized that many of the kids couldn’t save the money to buy a square because they would spend it on something else before they had saved enough. So he offered them a savings plan. They could give him the money and when they had “saved” enough with him he would give them the chocolate. Getting his money in advance also meant that he could pay his monthly account without dipping into his cash that was accumulating in the tin. Life was good.
One day a lad asked the boy “Why do I have to wait? Can’t you give me the square now and I will pay you off”. The boy could see that the lad really wanted the square now and asked if he was willing to pay a little bit extra as he had to outlay the money today but would not get repaid for over a week. The lad readily agreed and the boy found he could make more profit selling the pieces this way.
Soon everyone was getting their chocolate and sweets from the boy on credit. His motto was “Eat Now Pay Later” and it proved to be very popular.
Some people wanted more chocolate but they hadn’t paid off the previous purchase so the boy, not wanting to miss out on another sale, sold them more and increased the period for making the payments – adding one extra payment to cover his “costs”.
Houston We Have a Problem
Then one month he got his bill from the shop but found he didn’t have enough cash to pay it. He talked the shop owner into giving him extra time and took more chocolate to sell.
He realized that he could not give more credit to people who already owed him for past purchases so he told his customers they had to pay off their loans to get more chocolate. This made them very unhappy and some of them decided not to pay at all which had a bad impact on the boy’s cash flow. He also could not sell the new chocolate he had taken from the shop and one day it melted.
Now he couldn’t sell it and he couldn’t give it back but he had to pay for it.
As more kids saw that they could just stop making payments the boy’s cash flow dropped dramatically and he lost a lot of his friends. When the shop keeper came looking for him he appealed to the kids to help him by paying what they owed but they couldn’t think of a good reason why they should suffer to help him.
The head master got very angry when he heard what had happened and gave a stirring speech about greed at assembly. He threatened the boy with expulsion but didn’t get the support of the school board who thought the boy had learned his lesson. To protect the reputation of the school they paid the shop owner and told the boy he could pay them back – out of future profits.
During all this kafuffle the supply of chocolate had dried up. The teachers missed their presents and no one would dare sell chocolate on credit.
Houston You Have a Problem
On reflection the boy realized that nothing had changed. The demand for chocolate was still there. His punishment, an embarrassing lecture in assembly was long forgotten and the school had picked up his losses.
He began to see the “incident” as a mere hic cup. It was not a knock out blow just a temporary set back. He had learned a valuable lesson and every one knew that an education was expensive, although luckily, he didn’t have to pay for it.
He determined that next time he would go even bigger and now he realized the school was his semi-official backer, why not expand to other schools? The profit potential was huge and the risk, well, he would keep his fingers crossed but at the end of the day, surely, protecting their reputation was the school’s problem not his.
Ric Vatner
Note from the Author:
This is a short parable to get you thinking about the recent banking crisis and what is wrong with the system that allowed or even made it inevitable. My aim is to help you understand how the banking system developed, why it failed and why the government response will probably not work. I also want you to think about the ethics and morality of those involved.
I am very interested to hear your views about the story. Who do you think the Head Master represents? What organization is depicted by the school board? What did you think of the boy in the beginning and how do you think of him at the end?
Do you see any parallels with real life?
Have your say in our comment section or if you would like to write a longer response send it to the editor at shadow in the flame dot com. All genuine responses will be printed and we intend to do a story on this in eSTV so you will get publicity there as well.
Blue Ocean 
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Do you guest post? I’d be thankful if you would guest post on my blog!
Editor:
Yes but I don’t know anything about Hemorrhoids. Mind you I could write about being a pain in the ass I suppose.:-)
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