Why shouldn't I?

[mikelewis]

Why shouldn't I throw away morals for money? I know how to, of course. I know how to cheat the system and how to charge more and get less. It's easy really. Especially in my field, suckering people is so much easier than doing things right. There's also a lot of sharks already, people with no morals selling gimmicks, selling fear. Why shouldn't I better my lot at the expense of others.

The only thing standing in my way is my fear of eternal damnation and fear of incarceration but if I can make enough fast enough, I have nothing to fear from either higher powers. Religious leaders will regale me and say Jesus is my friend as long as I slip money in their back pockets. Politicians will keep the law off my ass and with the laws the way they stand now, hell, the law won't do anything anyway. All I have to do is fly under the radar for a short while and screw over as many people as I can, then I too can live the American dream. I too can have all the things the rich people have like education for my children, health care, a secure retirement and influence on the direction of the country.

Why shouldn't I simply sell out? It's not like the people I'd be fleecing are worthwhile anyway. I live in a morally bankrupt city where killings and thievery run rampant. Local politicians steal more on an annual basis than all of the "criminals" combined. The school system is simply churning out ignorant kids with no education and no future. The filth on the streets is enough to gag a maggot. The water is so tainted you can't eat more than five fish without dying (not including catfish, which is limited to only 1).

So what's stopping me? Where does this moral compass come from? I definitely didn't get it from my parents. They didn't give a shit about social issues or if they did I never knew about it. I definitely didn't get it from serving in the Army. There you learn how to slip through the holes in the bureaucracy to better your own lot. So where does it come from? Why do I care?

And then I look at my son and I realize, I can't do that. I can't sell my soul for money. I can't turn my back on my fellow man. I can't turn my back on the words of Jesus. I can't rape others and call it success no matter what the cost.

I wonder how the people who do these things can look at their children with any sort of hope. Can they cradle their little faces in their blood soaked hands and believe that it won't leave a stain. It reminds me of a song from the Cold War, "Don't the Russians love their children too?". If these people truly loved their children, they couldn't support these monsters. They couldn't condone torture and treason and lying and evil and then look their children in the eye without shame.

Oh well, I guess it's back to the daily grind. It's back to working hard and trying to do the right thing, even if it costs me more than I make sometimes. I can't help but wonder of course what the easy life might be like but I want to be able to look at my children without shame. I couldn't do that if I was like them. I guess that's why I shouldn't. But after working out in the cold for pennies on the dollar in a brutal city that offers no future, I still sometimes wonder... why shouldn't I?

[MADem]

1. Because at the end of the day, it is ONLY money

And you don't like the idea of being 'For Sale.'

Many of us don't.

[Acryliccalico]

2. Because you couldn't live with yourself if you did.

I think that most of us here feel the same. :kick: I think they call that 'Moral Values' and that does not exist in some unknown being. It comes from caring for others.

[mikelewis]

8. Yeah but I might trade it all for an...

X-box 360...

Though of course I couldn't afford the games.

[SnoopDog]

3. It is because Honor and Morality

are the noblest of human traits. Also the rarest, it seems, today.

[prole_for_peace]

4. ought to be "moral permits" like the "pollution permits" that some

industries use. i should be able to buy morals from someone with a lot they won't be using.

[mikelewis]

6. If morals were a stock - it'd be a junk bond...

[rucky]

5. Recommended!

:yourock:

[Jamison]

7. This is what makes you different from most republicans.

We're happy to have you on our side!:kick: