Ethics, Ethics, Ethics...

This post is a little out of the ordinary for me, but I think it fits into the bigger picture of careers and life overall. This semester I have been taking a media ethics class in which we discuss various ethical cases in the journalism field and use certain philosophical principles to analyze them. The professor I have for this class is one of those guys who really challenges students. He has no problem calling people out, or arguing just for the sake of arguing. Sometimes he comes off as a bit pompous and self-righteous, but he is a teacher that doesn't give a shit about getting in all the curriculum or giving you enough tests, he genuinely cares about what you take away from the course. Since it is media ethics, he hopes we take away some greater understanding of ourselves and our ethical choices, whether in journalism or in life. Tonight we had one of those classes that was not an oh let me teach you the curriculum, but instead let's talk about life and society and philosophical questions that we often ignore. He started class with this quote:

"...corruption/never has been compulsory/when the city lies at the/monster's feet there are left the mountains."
-Robinson Jeffers

He framed this quote with the question of what we do in our society, how society works and what drives people. The quote served to show that taking a corrupt path for money or success or any other reason is not compulsory--we don't have to do it. Even when we think there is no choice, there often is. This brought up the idea of when people have choices in life and when their choices are burdened or already made for them due to circumstance. Someone can't help where they are born or the kind of parents they grow up with. Those are unchangeable circumstances. When we are questioned with whether to take the ethical path or the corrupt path, then we do have a choice. We discussed how our society is truly driven by money and our obsession with materialism. It is when we follow the path that will make us the most happy, not grant us the most possessions that we are in the mountains.

All of this talk got me thinking about my own ethical values and where they came from, about my parents, siblings and people around me who serve as varying examples of products of society. For instance, my parents have never been money driven people. They are teachers who mainly want to live a simple, quiet life that is free of financial worry. My brother and I always joke that they are reformed hippies, because while they still uphold many of the view points of the liberal non-mainstream, they have become more "normal". I think this is in part due to the fact that we left the diversity and culture of the city to live in a better school district, a mainly white suburban town. I think my brother and I were also influences on my parents. When we were younger my mom tried to make us eat thick fresh baked slices of bread for our sandwiches, but all we really wanted was homogenized white bread like everyone else. Because my brother and I were young and impressionable, and just plain old kids who wanted to fit in, my family sort of blindly acclamated to our surroundings. Now this isn't all dealing with ethics--I think my parents have remained very moral and conscientious people throughout all this, it's just that now they wear Old Navy and drive an SUV because that's sort of considered normal.

For me this all comes back to another quote we discussed in class, dealing with dreams, "Follow your bliss." What is at the heart of the issue of ethics and our society, is that people don't follow their dreams, they think that the decisions in life are already made for them, that the have to go to college to get a good job and make lots of money. That's it. No questions asked. Few people today step back from this sort of destined path and ask why they are doing this or if this is really what they want. So many of us ignore what we really want to appear normal and to lead a comfortable life. This made me think of other people around me. My parents friend John is probably the biggest hippie I've ever met, and I've met quite a few. His whole life he has supported himself off of his art and music, selling his work and teaching classes. He was one of those people who didn't follow the path people told him to, accept because of his radical views he recently had to find a "real" job. After not paying his taxes for a number of years (his own fault and an ethical dilemma in itself) he is now working as a bus driver. Even though he got himself into this situation, it's sad to think that people who do follow their dreams sometimes get shit on. It makes you think, jesus christ I am so fucked. No matter what I do, if I take the dirty path or the righteous one I'm gonna be screwed. It's a pretty depressing thought.

This also makes me think of my brother. Andrew has always been the child who has wanted to be "normal". He used to dream of being a cartoonist or film maker, but somehow grew out of that and found his true passion: politics. Now I am amazed that my brother loves it so much. He reads more than anyone I know and is so up to date on all world affairs. Politics itself isn't known as an ethical profession and my brother is certainly realistic in his views about politics, but at the same time he really wants to do something good for the world. I find that so admirable. For awhile he thought he was going to become a lawyer for the sake of becoming a lawyer, but in the past year he has decided to follow his true dream, which is to work in intelligence. I have my own ethical issues and questions with the government and intelligence, but this is truly his passion and he is putting himself out on the line by following it. He is going to enlist soon, which scares the hell out of me but it's something he really wants to do. It's just funny because somehow I feel like he is the more mainstream child who wants to backlash against his parents, and I am the child who loves the fact that my parents were hippies and raised me in this sort of weird environment. Andrew is still a serious liberal (my parents might disown him otherwise) but he doesn't have the same appreciation for weirdness and counter culture that I do. It's funny how we're two very different products of the same environment.

Mostly I think I've been really lucky that my parents never stressed the importance of money on me and instead stressed being a good person and doing what I want to do. They never pressured me to follow a certain path, any pressure I felt was self-inflicted. I know it is important to them that I get an education and it's equally as important to me, but I also know that whatever I end up doing or whoever I become they will support me. Their acceptance and support has really shaped who I am, because I never felt the pressure to be anyone but myself.