The Ethics of Opportunity

"The belief that ethical decisions are contingent on context rather than guided by universal principles" is in essence saying yes there are ten commandments, a Constitution and a Bill of Rights, but today I need to get a "law" passed... I need to dilute the truth that the Corona Virus endlessly mutates rendering any drug therapy impermanent… EV's will correct the climate problem so ban gas vehicles… and if we tell a lie often enough people will accept it as the truth.

I have a deep skepticism about situational ethics as applied to agency, governance, policy, and decision-making—particularly when these decisions prioritize expedience or ideology over universal principles of correct conduct. This mindset, where adherence to foundational ethical or moral standards is critically compromised to achieve specific objectives, unfortunately aligns with the highly propagandized narratives promoted within contemporary contexts. History reminds us that the ends do not justify the means.

Ethical Relativism, Pragmatic Utilitarianism, and Narrative Dilution… represent the demise of integrity, the clouding of transparency, the loss of trust and a corrupting influence of the selfless actions upon which “acting in good faith” for the greater good rests. Many among us have adopted erroneous attitudes that introduce personal interpretation into historic cannons that are meant to be inelastic, inviolate, and sacrosanct. “Thou shalt not…”

For some the labels may be new, but the behaviors are as old as the symbolic “first bite of the apple.” We have the free will to choose either good or evil. Each modus operandi having its unique immediate and far-reaching unintended consequences. Our personal choices and of those we elect to represent us grapple with the application of ethics, morals, laws, and truths even when evading, excluding, or eviscerating all the conventions for opportunistically achieving control, power and omnipresence.

In reflection, rather than point to examples of the political, social, economic present contexts, look if you will through the lens provided by authors from the past who confront us with a view of our contemporary selves we may not have considered as relevant but lay nonetheless just beneath the skin of all of us.

In Melville’s Moby-Dick, Ahab’s relentless hunt of the great white whale represents unyielding ambition fixated on dominance and control, at catastrophic costs. Blinded to consequence, Ahab’s quest ultimately leads to destruction, much like unchecked economic or political hubris. The whale itself echoes the elusive, ever-mutating plays of power we face—economic collapse, political corruption, societal failure—power ungraspable but ever omnipresent. The "whale" of the ideolog pursued by those blinded by their own unattainable agendas, fail to see the want and devastation they leave behind.

Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, recounts Santiago’s solitary confrontation with the monstrous marlin, his resilience and the forces that test his will to persevere. The fish, like the ideals of governance and ethical leadership, can be reduced to skeletons by the "sharks" of opportunism and corruption. Hemingway’s story reminds us that the pursuit of meaning often comes at great personal and societal cost. The ideals of truth, and purpose—pursued nobly but devoured by opportunists.

From Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, we follow the narrator’s descent into madness, driven by guilt. Backroom dealings and fabrications often manifest as unseen but nonetheless burdens on societies and leaders. No matter how carefully concealed, the "beating heart" of wrongdoing surfaces eventually. Consequences are inescapable. Poe’s narrator symbolizes those who justify the unjustifiable, only to be consumed by their own rationalizations. Ethical foundations when betrayed, create an inescapable reckoning.

In Samuel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, "A" signifies the public shaming for a private sin as leadership often scapegoat persons or groups to divert attention from its own systemic failings. The letter, a coalescence of unresolved societal grievances, becomes a badge of hypocrisy. At times, the assigned stigma might be the overtly visible untruth and simultaneously the means to avoid the truth of failure—ever present but intentionally unseen.

One can in literature, acknowledge the tragic cost of failing to confront the truth with greater ease than if we seek out the same obsession, hubris, guilt, and hypocrisy of short-term reactionary strategies foisted over the long-term economics of our country. Looking at trillions of dollars of ever-growing debt would not be acceptable policy to economists; Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman or Paul Volker.

Debt is both a truth and a lie. The value of US currency hangs by a mere thread of faith in the global monetary system. Deceiving ourselves otherwise will soon render us a consequence in history. Our fiscal survival demands rational long-view a-political strategic planning and commensurate actions. If the dollar faulters the cascade of calamities will bring this great nation to its knees.