eating shit and other moral issues
Published 2010/02/10
Dad, can you identify this one for me, please:) I’m pretty sure it’s some kind a shit beetle, but it would sound great in Latin!
I found this beetle on my way to the rubbish hill, it was big enough to stop me in my tracks. Just big while being small, just living it’s life while being a part of something bigger. Right here, social associations arise for me, those years at the university wasn’t a waste of time:)
So, to the point. How much shit can you eat and still retain your inner self? I’m talking about very simple things here – before becoming big, you have to start being small. Socially, I mean, while living in a society (unless you were born deep in the jungle, it’s pretty much the same in all other places), you got to obtain a status. This varies a lot, but commonly, this means you have to integrate in your social surroundings, usually, in our beloved capitalist state, this works by becoming financially independent. In fact, you get a lot of social pressure while taking your choices, what makes them somewhat very limited. But you still can choose.
Back to retaining your identity, where is the line that you would never cross? This touches moral issues the most. For example: Would you do things that you find very wrong, if you are paid well? Could you talk lies just to comfort the person who’s paying you? Would you play a rigged game if you knew it was rigged? There are many more, and a lot of people do much more than I could think of. And they always find someone else to blame, like politicians, and they always find an excuse – there are too many to start with – and the social pressure only makes those excuse more valid.
So in these difficult times, the times of world economic crisis, a dog eats a dog. I have a feeling, that moral issues are becoming somewhat more and more distant on a daily basis. Or am I wrong? Perhaps I happened to have the wrong experience? Feel free to tell me your version of this story.
The reason I’m so sensitive to these issues is that I’ve always tried to stay loyal to my beliefs. Not lying, not faking, trying not to hurt anyone, not doing things that I find missleading to others. I’ve not always succeeded, but I remember those times for sure, and repeating that is the last thing I want to do.
I was always confident, in fact, I still am, that you don’t have to eat the shit to become bigger. All you need to do is take your time and think with your own head. And don’t loose your head – it is not replaceable. Only the brain is washable.. Just make sure you’re in the right laundry. How? Listen to your heart, it never lies.
