Zinging the Rationalizations for Unethical Behavior
People can be very creative when seeking to rationalize the unethical.
Before exploring the upscale subject of unethical rationalizations, let’s consider a lesson from the late, great, and wildly eccentric governor of Louisiana, Earl Long.
In 1959, journalist A.J. Liebling covered Long’s colorful political campaign. The result was Liebling’s highly entertaining book, The Earl of Louisiana, which has to be one of the greatest explorations of raw politics in American history.
[You might also enjoy Blaze, a 1989 Paul Newman/Lolita Davidovich film about, among other things, Long’s relationship with burlesque performer Blaze Starr. Uncle Earl was a man of many interests.]
Liebling wrote of when Earl Long told a campaign rally about a rich man who “died one night and never done nobody no good in his life, and yet, when the Devil come to get him, he took an appeal to St. Peter.”
Earl added that the old man declared, “I done some good things on earth. Once, on a cold day in about 1913, I gave a blind man a nickel.”
St. Peter looked through the old man’s records and found the entry on page 471. He replied: “That ain’t enough to make up for a misspent life.”
The old man said, “But wait. Now I remember, in 1922 I give five cents to a poor widow woman that had no carfare.”
St. Peter’s clerk went through page after page of the entries showing the old man loan-sharking the poor, and on page 1371 found the record of that nickel.
St. Peter said, “That ain’t neither enough.”
The old man protested. “Don’t sentence me yet. In about 1931 I give a nickel to the Red Cross.”
The clerk found that entry and asked St. Peter, “Your Honor, what are we going to do with him?”
And St. Peter said, “Give him back his fifteen cents and tell him to go to Hell.”
One of the great demonstrations in human creativity is how innovative people can become when they seek to rationalize unethical conduct.
The following rationalizations, while common, are highly questionable.
1. “If it’s necessary, it’s ethical.” The key question is whether it is truly necessary or simply convenient. During World War II, the Allies knew that there would be large number of civilians injured or killed during the invasion of Normandy, but it was unavoidable in order to liberate Europe from the Nazis. That decision is very different from a law firm hiding evidence during the discovery process or a business destroying evidence of unsafe products.
2. “It’s for a good cause.” This is an all too convenient excuse used to justify unethical behavior by non-profit organizations. A good question: How would the public feel if it knew of your conduct?
3. “If it’s legal, it’s proper.” As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart put it, “Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is the right thing to do.” Merely complying with the law does not mean that you have behaved ethically.
4. “I was just doing it for you.” If so, why didn’t you tell me? Is it possible that you were doing it to avoid confrontation, embarrassment, or unpleasantness? Caring is often used to excuse cowardice. In those cases, honesty should trump caring. It’s far better to be thought to be uncaring than to be regarded as dishonest.
5. “I’m fighting fire with fire.” Two wrongs do not make a right.
6. “Check my record. I’ve done a lot of good deeds.” This relates to the Earl Long story noted above. You are using good deeds to excuse bad ones. Some people dine out on a single good deed for years.
7. “It doesn’t hurt anyone. [Besides, they’ll never miss it.] Whether or not they miss it has no relationship to whether or not it is ethical. If you engage in unethical behavior, your ethical standards have been harmed. As the noted diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld observed, “He who wants to keep his garden tidy does not reserve a plot for weeds.”
8. “It must be ethical because everybody’s doing it. [If I don’t do it, someone else, who is probably less deserving, will.” We don’t determine ethics with a calculator. (“Hey, just three more and it’s ethical!”) Everyone doing or not doing something doesn’t make it right. And the fact that someone less deserving may benefit from unethical behavior doesn’t give you a green light for the same thing.
9. “There are others who have done much worse.” You’re saying you are dirty, but not as dirty as others. That is no defense. Its adoption would place the ethical standard as just above the worst performer. You do not need to be the worst performer in order to be unethical.
10. “It’s okay if I don’t benefit personally.” You do not need to gain personally in order to commit an unethical act. If I assist terrorists or robbers at no personal gain to myself, have I behaved ethically?
11. “I’ve got it coming. They owe me.” That may be true, but a more objective person than you should make that decision in accordance with established procedure. You should not be the judge in your own case.
12. “I can still be objective.” Unfortunately, an alarm bell doesn’t ring when a person becomes biased. Ethicist Michael Josephson was on target when he noted that you may be the last person to know when you’ve lost your objectivity.
13. “I’m just following orders.” That’s the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial defense. It wasn’t accepted then and it isn’t now. You have an ethical duty to refuse to obey unethical orders.
14. “I’m not my brother’s keeper.” You may not be a keeper, but an ethical person does not simply stand by and watch others be harmed while possessing the capacity to prevent or reduce that harm.
15. “I cannot take any chances because I have to support my family and friends.” Supporting them also means maintaining high ethical standards. Would they approve of your unethical conduct? Would they suffer if everyone knew of your unethical behavior?
16. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Not if doing so compromises your ethics or violates the law. And can you take an “ethical shower” and cleanse yourself when you return from Rome?
I have taught workshops on ethical decision making for many years. One of the things I have noticed is how often people cite a parent, teacher, friend, or co-worker as having had a major influence in strengthening their ethical standards.
The question that lingers is whether that influential person ever knew of the difference they made in a person’s life.
Don’t underestimate your influence.
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