It isn't what you have but whether it runs your life

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

that determines your ability to be ethical. It doesn't matter whether it's a body part, an SUV, a big bank account, a little bank account, a dog, acat or a love of falafel.

Any questions?

[Magrittes Pipe]

1. I have the heads of the people I killed stashed in my window seat.

They don't run my life, but I do commit unnatural acts with them sometimes.

[SarahB]

2. Exactly, exactly, exactly!!!

We are not our stuff. We are our minds and more importantly, our hearts. :thumbsup:
So many people don't seem to get this. People are simply people. I've been around some very wealthy people and exposed to a few amazing things. I've also had plenty of times in my life without much money at all. (Mostly, part of the struggling middle group.) It only defines our opinions of others or ourselves if we choose to let it define us.

edit: spelling error

[Beware the Beast Man]

3. Is that your justification for material gain?

How Republican! :evilgrin:

[EstimatedProphet]

4. So, how do you fight the attachment to the possession?

Sure, you can be affluent and not fixated on your things, but how many people are? How many people can manage to have these things and still act to make the world a better place, if it means that their ability to keep those things will be constricted or taken away?
You're right that it's whether it runs your life, but the sorry truth is, when people start to get affluent and have the big bank accounts and things, it begins to run their lives.
Man is a comfort-seeking organism.

[Misunderestimator]

6. Michael Moore for one...

I like to think of myself (though my means are far more modest than that) if not thoroughly unattached, at least not controlled by my things. There are plenty of good people with wealth and power that somehow maintain their ethics and integrity.

I do agree that the temptation is there for material possessions running our lives, but I really don't think that it's that much greater a temptation for those with a tremendous amount more than others. It's all relative. Look at those multitudes of people who own very little, have no health insurance, have no education, are deeply in debt, and are still voting for Bush. :shrug:

[hunter]

5. Falafel.

I was going to say something about balls, but falafel was funnier.

[Misunderestimator]

7. I do love falafel, well, I used to

As for the question... I have no idea. One is or one isn't, though upbringing must surely have something to do with it.

Was it a serious question? If not, then I would say that my hatred of yams and beets determines my ability to be ethical.

[HEyHEY]

8. Answer this one

Answer me this ethics question. When I began here I said I'd stay two years, it looks like I'm giving my notice tomorrow, but the job is one I CAN'T turn down, it would be stupid and would never come again.

I have this terrible overpowering feeling of guilt going on and I can't seem to quench it.

[Fenris]

9. Who let Ayn Rand in?

[Lady Effingbroke]

10. The less you own, the better off you are.

Except for falafel. You can never have enough falafel.

[flamingyouth]

11. Well, I have way too much crap

I think my life is controlled by a vast collection of really obtuse books.