Posted by trouble on March 1, 2002, at 21:22:23
In reply to Re: squares » trouble, posted by Dinah on March 1, 2002, at 18:29:01
Well, now that you mention it I did have a couple thoughts about your post.
You categorized some values there that I find mutually exclusive, to wit: rules and integrity.
I think of people w/ integrity as rule-breakers par excellence. Abolitionists and so forth. Whistle-blowers are my modern day heroes.
Moving on, the values vs principles thing brings to mind the classic dilemma: Don't steal vs. the sickly infant. Do you steal the medicine or let the baby die. These trumped up scenarios irritate me but I guess we all enter the debate knowing full well where we stand, and this is supposed to make us think twice.
Another good insane principle I do is
Finish what you start.
So that means I can't stop reading a boring book. I've been in this situation! But what truly riles me about this principle is the issue of sexuality, when is it too late for a woman to say No, when do two people start having sex, what if she decides after a few minutes that this encounter is not er, measuring up to her expectations, does she have to go thru w/it, are these questions not ludicrous? But they're based on a principle that's been used against women and teenage girls for at least as long as I've been around.For me, the way it works is when I find myself in a quandary about the appropriate action to take in a given situation, that's the worst time for me to be guided by principle. Matter of fact it often turns out I'm being blinded by a sacred principle, and can't see the situation clearly, b/c I'm stuck on the way things "should" be.
And I just think I see this all around me, people everywhere refusing to accept what is happening in the moment b/c it's not supposed to be this way. One of my clients fired his limo driver for being two minutes late at the airport on September 12! He's usually the nicest and most reasonable person in the world, a sweetheart, but he has this principle about punctuality that makes him lose touch w/ reality. That's what I meant when I said we're all moralists to some degree, and it's kind of a disease.
Write back!
trouble
poster:trouble
thread:19047
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020223/msgs/19085.html