When you were a kid at school, you probably endured lots of preaching
about the virtue of flexibility. Most likely, the moral speeches you
heard were accompanied by fulminating diatribes against rigidity.
Imprecise is right and exact is boring, you were told. Weightlessness is
strength and fragility is solidity.
Without values and commitments, life becomes chaotic
In terms of ethics, this
approach leads to the enthronement of relativism as a moral absolute,
which is of course absurd, since when anything goes, fuzziness is
portrayed as sharpness, ignorance as information, and confusion as
wisdom.
On the other hand, look at what happens when we turn our
attention from theory to reality. When values and commitments lose their
contours, life becomes chaotic. If you doubt my words, talk to anyone
who has lived for a while in a country where basic principles have been
abandoned:
* CONTRACTS ARE IGNORED. The stories that you read in
newspapers about doing business in unstable countries only reflect a
small part of the horror. Without people's willingness to keep their
word, society simply disintegrates. Without enforceable contracts, all
that remains are shady transactions and an extremely high cost of
living.
* INSECURITY BECOMES DOMINANT. Once ethics become
dispensable, life turns into a race of cheating and abuse. If people
begin to question fair, well-functioning agreements that have been long
established, everything is up for grabs. When psychological manipulation
becomes the currency of the day, any sort of purchase turns into a
nightmare.
* MISTAKES GROW WITHOUT LIMIT. Productivity is always
the first victim of moral decay. Without honesty, agreements on time,
results, and compensation lose all meaning. Reliability and credibility
are the best cost-reduction tools in business. When those two disappear,
the effort needed to complete any task grows exponentially
Reality is forgiving of innocent
mistakes, merciless with dishonesty
All
this is, at the same time, bad news and good news. Even if some people
advocate moral relativism, you are not obliged to adopt vagueness as
personal philosophy. Even if someone persons around you behave
dishonestly, you can decide to stay dependable and truthful.
A
wise man seeks compromise in negotiations, but only when essential moral
principles are left untouched. Reality is forgiving of innocent
mistakes, but merciless with those who twist facts and corrupt their
soul.
Your peace of mind and self-confidence depend on your
rational principles. Stick to them and they will show you the way. For
the sake of your present happiness and future health, reject temptation
and pass the test. Your decisiveness will be enhanced and your results
will improve.
For more information about rational living and personal development, I refer you to my book The 10 Principles of Rational Living
[Text: http://johnvespasian.blogspot.com]
[Image by vivek jena under Creative Commons Attribution License. See the license terms under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us]