| ??? 07/22/08 19:08 Read: times |
#156948 - Our moral judgements do not always apply Responding to: ???'s previous message |
Erik Malund said:
Other cultures don't see things in the same way as we, here in the "west" do. We see bribery and corruption, and theft an deception in a different way than people in other parts of the world do.
stealing cable is a quite popular 'hobby' in the US. so, where is "forcing morality" in a question and where does "other cultures" come in? When the O/P is clearly from another part of the world than we, it's incumbent on us to allow for those cultural differences. stealing cable is equally criminal in Timbuktu and Podunk, that "other cultures" may not have as large a group of objectors to doing so does not make it right. Yes, but "criminal" is looked upon differently in different places. How else can you explain the completely relaxed posture of one of the hundreds of thousands of illegal Latin "immigrants" that we have here in the Denver area, standing in front of a bus stop and urinating into the gutter in full view of police, and other passers-by? It was not that uncommon in Germany when I was there in the '60's. Clearly, in Mexico, where there's no legally imposed death penalty, and the maximal prison sentence is 20 years, they view mass-murder with different eyes than we, here in the U.S. There are probably better examples, but, having recent recollection of one case wherein a law-enforcement officer was murdered by an illegal "immigrant" (using the term loosely) because he'd been offended by being excluded from a family celebration, I can't help but think of the obvious cultural difference that allows this sort of thing. It's not that the people are evil. It's simply that their standards are different. Just look at the different ways in which women are regarded throughout the world. I know this is not what you mean but you post could be read "it is OK to help someone steal if (s)he is in a 'culture' where it is not frowned upon as much as in your location" Yes, that's how it could, and, perhaps, should be interpreted. I might feel differently if it were a matter of aiding someone in building a bomb, but you get the idea. Moral questions aside, he asked a technical question, and deserves a relevant technical answer. Erik The important thing is to remain focused on answering the O/P's questions and not on imposing one's own moral judgment on the O/P. In our culture, here in the U.S, it's frowned upon for first-cousins to marry. In some cultures, it's the rule, rather than the exception. When I was a very small boy, in Germany, immediately after WW-II, the only way to "get stuff", whether that was food or fuel, or whatever, was to steal it from the prevailing authorities. If you were fortunate enough to be in the U.S.-controlled portion of Germany, and, presumably, likewise, in the British-controlled zone, then this was partially tolerated simply because the authorities lacked the means and/or the will to enforce their own laws pertaining to local civilian theft from them. If you were in the Russian-occupied zone, as my parents were, then the penalty for stealing food or other life-sustaining provisions from the Russians was more severe, and usually fatal. I suspect that the western authorities understood that stealing from them was just about the only way for locals to get those essentials that made life possible, so they turned a blind eye, or developed policies that tolerated theft by the desperate, but not by the entrepreneurial. After all, there was no valid currency, nor was there any source of supply during the years immediately following the war. Remember, too, that survival moves at a daily pace, while implementation of policy moves in years, decades, and sometimes centuries. RE |
