RE: ethics, morals in documentation?

[Joy Brady <joy_m_brady -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

I don't really see the conflict here. (see excerpts
below)  

The principles that you would suffer (even die) for
are your strongest principles.  If I have given in
WELL before any suffering begins, then I suppose I
have a preference, rather than a principle.  

I don't think the first poster was saying that there
are no people with principles, or that morality's "all
just relative."  Or that everyone who caves in on one
principle, doesn't actually hold that principle dear.
(Actually, I know this person, and he stands for
really good things, and walks his good talk like you
wouldn't believe. This causes me to want to challenge
the implicit insult in the statement, "I think what
you say shows more about your own beliefs.")

I interpeted it as a challenge to the list to make
sure we aren't being "armchair moralists" before we
post, and that we ask ourselves whether we have a
right to claim principles unless we stick by them.  
It's a fair enough challenge. May I add my own
refinement?

If someone gives up on a principle, because a more
powerful principle must take precedence (the woman who
turns to prostitution to feed her kids, man who steals
medicine for a sick child, etc.), I wouldn't accuse
them of having a mere "preference" rather than a
principle.  Good principles can conflict in bad times.
 That's the very definition of a bad time!  An
intrinsically honest person would suffer greatly to
have to "do wrong" by a stranger to take care of their
family.  I don't think the first poster was describing
this scenario.  He gave the case of a woman (not
apparently in dire straits) who readily admits her
price is one million.  A merely humorous way of
pointing out that sometimes people claim principles,
when really all they have is a price.

I'm impressed by the people who have mentioned they
turned down job offers because they didn't believe in
the product. That's kind of neat.  I've discovered my
own "price," it turns out.

Joy Brady Beer
Donning the Asbestos Underoos Now...

--- A fellow tech-whirler wrote:
> [Another techwhirler]  said 'And for those of you
who think it's okay
> what your company does or
> who they deal with so long as YOU don't have to
> dirty your hands, I ask this
> question: "If your family was hungry, and
> it was take the job or watch them starve, what would
> you do?"
> 
> Now you find out what kind of principles you have.
> Everything else is a
> matter of taste.
> 
> I find this quite insulting. There are many people
> in the world who would
> either starve or lay down there lives for what they
> believe in. they come
> from all walks of life and from all parts of the
> world. To say that you'd do
> something just for the money (ie the price is right)
> is a load of old cack.

=====
Joy Brady
Technical Writer
Columbus, Ohio, USA

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