THE GOLDEN RULE REHASHED

When I came home after a late night new year’s celebration at a friend’s house, I briefly thought  about my first post for 2010.  Three things came to mind – the conversation about the virtues of universal ( free) health care in Canada with my buddies during the new year’s eve party , the issue of a friend who complained about not being invited to parties during the holidays and of course, Tiger Woods’ infamous fall from grace that shocked the world. I was wondering if I could blog about them and if my arguments would be in line with popular code of ethics which had become increasingly fuzzier in this day and age.  In my idle time last weekend, I grabbed Carl Sagan’s  Billions and Billions from my modest library to finish the 3rd section of the book and I thought I found something interesting when I came across his essay “Rules of the Game“.  I always go to Sagan for science stuff and much like Einstein, when great scientists talk about morals and society, I am all ears.  As I expected, no explicit answers are given but an analysis of man’s behavior based on the evolutionary nature of the human specie  influenced by the perception of society’s rapidly changing moral values is enough for me to appreciate the author’s  point.

Here’s a couple of excerpts from the article :

“Everything morally right derives from one of four sources : it concerns either full perception of intelligence or intelligent development of what is true; or the preservation of organized society, where every man is rendered his due and all obligations are faithfully discharged; or the greatness and strength of a noble, invincible spirit; or order and moderation in everything said and done, whereby is temperance and self-control.”CICERO, De Officiis, I, 5 (45-44 B.C.)

 

TABLE OF PROPOSED RULES TO LIVE BY

The Golden Rule : Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
The Silver Rule : Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you.
The Brazen (Brass) Rule : Do unto others as they do unto you.
The Iron Rule : Do unto others as you like, before they do it to you.
The Tit-for-Tat Rule : Cooperate with others first, then do unto them as they do unto you.

RULES OF THE GAME

Given the imperfections of human beings we interact with on a daily basis, I will not be overly remiss to surmise that the probability of us straying from the Golden Rule and playing all of the above rules is high, mandated by force of circumstance, in some instances, against our own volition. In the end, the defense mechanism of our innate self preservation instinct can overrule our sense of right and wrong when our existence is threatened. We can certainly do much better than the chimpanzee’s perceived practice of “reciprocal altruism” – do good to me and I will return the favor, not all the time. Being the more enlightened specie in this planet, violence should be our last resort.

Other Rules :

Golden Rule for Superiors and Iron Rule for Inferiors : Suck up to those above you, and abuse those below.
Nepotism Rule : Give precedence in all things to close relatives, and do as you like to others.

Sagan has a point when he said …. ” In making such decisions, we’re concerned not only with doing right but also with what works… what makes us and the rest of society happier and more secure. There’s a tension between what we call ethical and what we call pragmatic. If, even in the long run, ethical behavior were self-defeating, eventually we would not call it ethical, but foolish”. The bottom line is our collective practices – the way we individually play the rules of the game ultimately reflects the overall level of prosperity of the society we live in.  If religion is the ultimate source of the code of morality, how is it that countries that practice similar faiths exhibit varying degrees of moral decadence and societal prosperity? Cicero’s statement makes sense and if man measures his action against the aforesaid four points instead of one, the result would be more balanced and respectable with respect to what society deems as morally right.

Now on the three issues I wanted to blog about…. The debate of whether health care is a citizen’s right or a previlege in a given society is one that will require a dedicated blog to tackle effectively and hear all sides. In a nutshell, it will be difficult to question the moral conscience of a country that desires to protect everyone who gets sick as opposed to protecting only those who can afford to pay. Putting a price tag on health care and making it an enterpreneurial, capitalistic endeavor much like any other commodity raises serious questions about its moral repercussions. As for the friend who doesn’t get invited to the holiday potlucks – sadly the Golden Rule doesn’t apply to a frequent offender. I have no problem with frugal people but I have a problem with frugal people who have money and do not play fair. If you don’t want to spend money then don’t come to the potluck if you’re not bringing food – period. As for the Tiger Woods brouhaha, I will defer on making judgments on his indiscretions in this post. However, I will ask a question – what do you think of  the person who ratted Tiger’s affair with Rachel Uchitel to the media for the reward of $25,000 ?  Was her action morally justifiable ? Did it benefit society in any way ?

IF YOU WANT SOMETHING YOU NEVER HAD, DO SOMETHING YOU HAVE NEVER DONE

A friend attached this pic in his new year’s greeting email to me which I thought was absolutely cool. I don’t plan to acquire anything I never had this year or do anything revolutionary, so I’d better stay put in my cage eh ? 🙂 Since we are in the first week of the new year, I guess it isn’t too late to wish those among us who want to do bigger and greater things in 2010 to jump real high and hit the mark 😉