The Ethical Thread

OfficePants

OfficePants

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In this thread we are ethical. Respond to an ethical question or dilemma and ask one of your own.

You are refinancing a mortgage, would take a deal where the interest was 1% better or to your brother, who is a broker and giving you the worse rate?
 
Yes, I return it.

Your a person who gives to homeless, if you knew for a fact he was on drugs, would you give the homeless man money? (In this scenario you can't puss out w/ I don't give money...)
 
Harveybirdman said:
Well, I don't give the homeless money, but if I had to I would not care whether he spent it on drugs or food.

You figure out a foolproof way to win the powerball. You will not be caught or get in trouble. Do you win the powerball?
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Yes, unless it broke the law.

Would you spend money keeping a close family member alive even though it was clearly terminal and painful?
 
It would depend on the level of commitment involved, and the trust that would be broken, but most likely not; sexual exclusivity is one of the hallmarks of a dedicated relationship.

You work in a position that establishes confidential relationships (doctor/patient, lawyer/client, etc). You learn, undoubtedly, that your patient/client is involved in, and actively planning, terrorist activity. Do you report it?

 
(Response to Harvey above)

Argh. It always comes down to a Kantian/Utilitarian argument where someone dies....

Ask the group. If the "group" is just the woman's husband, I'm sure he chooses drowning above his pregnant wife dying. If it's a significant number of others with much left to live for, the pregnant women's interests might be outweighed. Also, are these people criminals?; their rights should be considered diminished and of lesser consequence.

IMO, pregnant woman lives. Something more morally unacceptable willfully/actively blowing the woman to bits than allowing others to drown via inaction.

But those are always the toughest hypotheticals. Use the dynamite to try to blow out another exit. If it fails, use everyone to push on that lady's butt.

-

You are alone in your favorite store. You can freely leave with anything you want, and will not suffer consequences for doing so. However, theft is against your personal moral code. What happens?
 
Wedding

You open your close friends cell phone and find he's mixed up in a criminal enterprise.... Do you report him?
 
what happens in their house is their business. so long as he's not beating a woman or an underaged child, its their business.
 
This thread's starting to read like 'Would You Rather...?', but without genitalia.

acidboy said:
would report if it the 17 yo gets beaten to a pulp.

found out a parent had a one night stand recently.. tell it to your other parent?
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Has he been beaten before? If its a one time thing, I'd leave it. Kids an asshole and probably deserved a good beating.

Leave marriage alone.

A Canuker said:
I think I'd stay out of thier marital issue's.

Hit a random cat with your car, do you attempt to find the owner?
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Did you kill the cat?
 
A Canuker said:
Dunno, did you get out to check?
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It all depends. Is it in the space in front of your apartment? Then you probably do. Is it in the middle of a back country road? What are you gonna do, get out and start screaming "Cleetus, I done killed yallz kitty!"
 
Report to the police for violence

If it's in the neighborhood ask a couple of neighbors about cat

You have the ability to save someone's life by donating a lung, but it's to a perfect stranger. You have a very rare blood type, most likely, almost certainly, actually certainly, this person will die without your help. Do you help?
 
Drinking on the job. You're a cop, you know in advance about a drinking officer who ends up drunk driving home from a shift, problem is, you pulled him over. Do you cuff him?
 
I don't know who that is, but I am assuming he's a nut so yes, I would knock him off.

If were a woman and you had a choice to earn $2 a day or be a prostitute and earn much more, which life would you choose?
 
munchausen said:
I don't kill Albert Speer or Hitler. I'm not an executioner.

You're doing very profitable business with an individual that requires you to see them every day. You find out that he molests his own children. Do you continue to work with him?
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No - and I turn him into the cops. No money is worth permitting that.

Your child has specifically asked you to do something significant in their sphere (come to the school play, baseball game, etc), but you are concurrently presented with a significant personal opportunity otherwise (financial boon, or for those not focused on money, perhaps a sexual rendezvous) for the same time. Where do you go?
 
That depends. If I was in a slump, I'd go for the pussy. Otherwise, I'd do the right thing.

Your a military surgeon, a nasty war is going on. A Colonel keeps sending kids to their death unnecessarily thru stupid decisions. You have the ability to fake an illness and perform surgery on him so as to try and keep him off the battlefield and save lives. Do you do it?
 
OfficePants said:
Your a military surgeon, a nasty war is going on. A Colonel keeps sending kids to their death unnecessarily thru stupid decisions. You have the ability to fake an illness and perform surgery on him so as to try and keep him off the battlefield and save lives. Do you do it?
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This deserved a response.
 
OfficePants said:
Your a military surgeon, a nasty war is going on. A Colonel keeps sending kids to their death unnecessarily thru stupid decisions. You have the ability to fake an illness and perform surgery on him so as to try and keep him off the battlefield and save lives. Do you do it?
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OfficePants said:
This deserved a response.
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Which war and whose side am I on?

If I were to off the Colonel and steal his identity would there be any comeuppance? Because I fucking hate comeuppance more than anything.

edit: I guess the central issue here is, clearly, what's in it for me?
 
Hmmm, wars of attrition, huh?

OfficePants said:
Let's do 2:The Korean war, you're a GI.
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I actually used to live in South Korea near what was known as the Devil's Punch Bowl and have read quite a bit about the period. Your question is too difficult to answer simply.



OfficePants said:
Let's do 2: WW2, you're a Kraut.
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Am I a thoroughly indoctrinated Nazi? If not, I'd let Colonel Nazi send as many fodder Nazis off to their death as he saw fit. Then I'd shoot myself up with all the morphine the Wehrmacht allowed me access to and pray that I OD before the Soviets arrive.
 
OfficePants said:
Ok, lets say you were a Northerner in the US Civil War instead.
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Shit, man. I don't know. Why are you asking me all these questions, anyway? I shouldn't be making these kinds of decisions, I'm just some guy.
 
I can easily be very overcautious and scrutinize every available symptom at great waste of time. Nothing unethical about it.

You want to buy shoes at discount over teh internets. Do you go to brick and mortar size for sizing with no intent to buy? And none of this 'buy some laces or polish' crap.
 
hossoso said:
Shit, man. I don't know. Why are you asking me all these questions, anyway? I shouldn't be making these kinds of decisions, I'm just some guy.
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This is your chance to be a hero. Come on, hoss, you can do it.



Russell Street said:
You want to buy shoes at discount over teh internets. Do you go to brick and mortar size for sizing with no intent to buy? And none of this 'buy some laces or polish' crap.
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This question is more complicated than it looks on the surface. I'd say I wouldn't just because I'm too lazy to drive to a store. I'd rather be 1/2 a size off and sit on my ass.

A 40 year old close friend comes to you: she accidentally is pregnant. She has many health problems, and having a baby may even be fatal. She desperately wants a child. Do you advise her to run with it or abort? She can't decide.
 
OfficePants said:
A 40 year old close friend comes to you: she accidentally is pregnant. She has many health problems, and having a baby may even be fatal. She desperately wants a child. Do you advise her to run with it or abort? She can't decide.
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She should bear the child, but she must give it up for adoption if she's not married. She ain't getting another chance and her health is crap anyway. But single mothers are unfit mothers.

You go to a local charity event and realize that you've walked past the ticket table and have not paid the small admission fee. This table is now at least a hundred yards out of your way and will not be passed without a special trip. What do you do?
 
Russell Street said:
You go to a local charity event and realize that you've walked past the ticket table and have not paid the small admission fee. This table is now at least a hundred yards out of your way and will not be passed without a special trip. What do you do?
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Sit down on the floor and cry until someone asked me what was wrong, then I'd explain the existential crisis I was having and ask if maybe they could take the money over to the admission table for me.

Then I'd get up, dust myself off and look around to see if anyone else noticed how masterfully I had gotten myself out of that jam.

Swish, baby. Nothin' but net.
 
I'd have to wager not. Anyone that bent on something can only operate assuming they are correct and justified in what they do.

4th of July, in a desert city with a severe drought going on. You hear random fireworks going off in the sky above your house, not associated with any controlled show for the holiday. Safe to assume they're illegal because they're detonating above ground. Do you call the police on those idiots?
 
Yeah. I might search for his family and let them have half.

You are driving and safely pass another vehicle. The other driver is texting and thus is totally startled, panics, and overrreacts enough to run himself off the road. He/she may be injured. Do you stop and help, risking being blamed for the whole thing?
 
Yes you stop to help. Besides, they were texting and probably have no clue you caused it. Or use the Hedi mind trick to convince them otherwise.

You are who you are. You are at a bar and hit it off with a young woman. Things progress and she is at your place and you are naked and in the midst of consummating your new relationship when in the heat of passion she tells you she is 17. Do you go through with it?
 
Ooh, a zombie Wednesday revival!
There is some roadside memorial that looks like distracting garbage to me. Would it be wrong to dismantle this as it litter on public property, or would this be desecrating of some personal blah blah blah?
 
Russell Street said:
Ooh, a zombie Wednesday revival!
There is some roadside memorial that looks like distracting garbage to me. Would it be wrong to dismantle this as it litter on public property, or would this be desecrating of some personal blah blah blah?
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Just put up a banner prior to dismantling "Transgenders for a Clean Environment"

No one will trouble you
 
I really need to get a dayglo safety vest. I get the sense that I could away with all kinds of stuff wearing one.
 
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