In the Face of Ethics...

Hey all, happy Veteran's Day! I know it's cliche, but let's not forget to be thankful for all of those who have helped this country while we have a day off...

Anyways, this is something that's sorta new to my mind, but it's just been bugging me a bit so I thought I should give it a whirl... As most of you probably may know, ethics is one of the things that I find most interesting... Even though I don't know too much when it comes to these things, I find it really fascinating to listen to everyone and get their viewpoints. It's one of the things that I like spending many hours into the night just thinking/talking over, just because there is so much to everything... Of course, this doesn't mean that I don't have my own viewpoints, or that I don't hold strongly to them, but I feel like it's good to try and see the world from many perspectives and not just one... Also, if you ask others of their opinions and viewpoints, you form a stronger bond with them, and they are more prone to talk and listen to you, and vice versa...

Well, my interest in ethics developed in high school, junior year. We had a new teacher named Mr. Wessling. As you Valley people know, this isn't the counselor Wessling, but his son Mr. Wessling. Essentially, this guy was fresh out of college with a major in philosophy and thought he would give teaching a shot. One of the first things he said is, "It's ok that you believe whatever you believe. Just make sure you have a good reason for it." This was really big to me, and it furthered my crazy trains of thought that had already started developing. Any subject that we tackled I found interesting, even though most I also found horribly confusing. And, as many of you can guess with ethics, a clear cut answer is not always there...

As time went on, I discussed more and more with my friends ethical views and why they do what they do. It wasn't only ethical views, but just in terms of personality and what not, too. Most of us agreed that there things aren't always black and white, but they still held on to some things fervently, or at least they said they did. There was comfort in knowing that I wasn't alone in my viewpoints in the sense that I wasn't overly cautious or conservative. Please don't take the idea that I'm saying I only believed in my ethical viewpoints because there were others that did so as well, but that there is comfort in that fact. Somewhat confusing, but not exactly the same thing.

Fast forward a few years, and you get most of my friends starting college... And here, the social environment is a lot different than Valley... Not only is it a chance to start anew, but where almost anything as seen previously as being socially unacceptable by Valley is something that is viewed as normal by some, and thus there is no judgment attached with it... And thus, people are able to go for things that they may previously have feared, and all of it becomes a new norm...

Now, please don't think I'm ragging on college kids and what not. Valley is overly conservative, and sometimes the options that become available in college may or may not be a bad thing. Yet, the title of this post is the main idea: What happens when your ethics clash with what you want..?

Like I said, so many of my friends seemed to have a fixed position on many issues. These things weren't things that we considered to be hard to tell if they were right or wrong, but I mean set on viewed as wrong. Yet, so many of these things, whether they be personality or ethics, seemed to be broken once they had the opportunity to experience them. For example, I remember someone had a hatred towards overly public displays of affection. Yet, once they actually had a relationship, that's one of the things they became known for... Other friends were strongly against using others, getting drunk, and other things... Yet, once they actually had the ability to do the things that they were so strongly against, it became right to them. They just did it because they were no longer inhibited by the environment Valley had created...

So many people say things. And yet, those things are likely to change. A sign of being adamant is so likely to fall away when one is able to come into the face of desires. Thus, do people have ethics simply because it's something they can't acquire at the time? People seem more adamant towards the things they can't have, yet they internally desire... When they are actually able to obtain these desires, all of these ethics break down. Thus, what they merely purport is something that they do in order to hide their desires... Sometimes people do change what they view as wrong to being acceptable, and that may be true in some cases. Yet, there are those who view what they do as questionable, yet they still do it because their want to is so great. I wonder, am I just the same sometimes..? Do I hold onto something so tightly simply because I haven't been placed in the situation where it's available or where it seems as more of a plausible option? It's just something that's been on my mind lately, and stuff good for self-examination not only for me, but for whoever else may read this as well...

Well, thus ends the general version of the world. And yes, I mean general. Maybe I'm just overly optimistic, but I would like to believe that there are those who would stick to what they deem their ethical standards on clear-cut issues, whether or not they are presented with a situation in which they can have what is against their ethics. To some, this may seem overly cautious and judgmental, for I know there are some who say that you can't judge/be against something without ever having tried it. True, there are some people who are very fixed to what they believe and refuse to accept or look at other positions, but that's not the type of person I'm referring to. The interesting thing to note is that this is sort of a judgment in itself, and there are ways to know about things without having tried it. In fact, that's something I'm probably gonna write on later. But for now, those with truly strong ethical character and principles are those who have examined the possibilities of the spectrum and decide to stay true to what they view as right, even in the face of desire. Again, it is somewhat hard to always know what is right, since many things can be shades of grey, but it is still admirable to see someone to stick strongly to their beliefs without being close-minded. I know this is a little bit confusing to understand because I am finding it hard to write most of this, but hopefully y'all will be able to get at what I'm saying. Ethics themselves are just very crazy to think about... Oh well, food for thought... Farewell