ETHICS

One of the characteristics of a civilized and cultured society or nation is ethics. Ethics are values, beliefs and practices a person, a society, a religion or a nation considers good and appreciable to be understood and practiced by many. Ethics create a healthy atmosphere for the participants to live peacefully and happily. It is easy reading, discussing and preaching ethics to others than practicing them in one’s life. Ethics expect one to kill one’s basic instincts for the sake of others and thus lead a life of self-tuning, self-assessment, self-criticism and self-reformation with or without others’ demand or interference for the same. It is not regulatory bodies like police, lawyers and religious bodies that decide whether a person or society can be ethically strong or not but each individual devoted to the overall interests of a given society or faith. Ethics are related to one’s conscience, judgment and idealism. One needs to learn them and practice them for one’s satisfaction or peace of mind or for other reasons which are beyond one’s control. It is hard to exactly assess how much a person or society or nation is devoted to ethics, in thought and action. Surveys seldom yield reliable results in matters of ethics because nobody can ever say that he or she can or can’t practice certain ethics always. Human mind is inconsistent. So are human thoughts, commitments and practices in many occasions and circumstances one encounters in one’s course of life from childhood to old age.

Theory

1. Ilironthus is a noted statesman, politician and teacher. He was known for years for ethics. After his death, an investigation into his realistic life revealed that he had been one of the most inhuman and unkind creatures of his times. He never did what he preached to others. He had been a professional like many of his times.

2. Nangori is a famous film actor. He acted in hundreds of films and earned billions of rupees. Most of the roles he played in the films represented the value and importance of ethics in human life. One day his wife and children called for a public meeting and declared, “He is worse than a dog. He is uglier than darkness. He is a criminal and sinner to the core”.

3. Karja Surobson was an internationally famous industrialist. He had different industries in five continents. He was admired as one of the greatest achievers of his times by critics and his contemporaries. A reporter got the following feedback from his laborers in a factory, “He was a celebrity then. His villainy looked like heroism and patriotism to others. We knew what he was really. We don’t think our words count now against his stardom”.

4. Bilson Prowsy is considered a great moralist by millions of women across the world in her lifetime. Some considered her a goddess of beauty and qualities. After 10 years of her death, ten books came out, in each of which, her lover or admirer or relative, who observed her from close quarters made such remarks which made others take her as a bitch now.

Practice

1. Mojari is a fisherman. When his community in his region earned millions of rupees catching a specific species of fish and exporting it to other nations, Mojari remained poor and simple forever in his life and died one day. An enthusiastic journalist went to their place and tried to know a little about Mojari. His old wife told her, “He considered catching, killing and selling fish crime and sin. He never entered sea like others in our community. He daily worshipped the image of a fish. He wanted to live and die poor and helpless instead of killing fish”.

2. Minora was considered a high-class prostitute in the entertainment industry those days. She was the richest property on lease for stakeholders. After her death, it was known that she used all that money for an orphanage. She was exploited by her relatives in her childhood. She lost respect for humanity and sensitivity as a woman. She chose a simple path to earn money. She spent that money for a noble cause. She never yearned for fame or publicity like others.

3. Hothas Kumba has been living in a small forest for years. He is not interested in marriage, society or nation. He lives on fruit, water and other natural foods available in that forest. One saint asked him one day, “I often go into the society to breathe the bad air. Why not you? Lothas replied, “I can’t witness those crimes and sins in this polluted society. I should not commit suicide and go against the commands of my fate or God. I don’t like to see anything there or know about them. I want to live and die untouched by all those material attractions and evils”.

4. Dutinos Saxon is known as a notorious gangster in his area. He killed many animals, birds and humans in his region. Police announced a huge reward on his head. They could catch him after ten years of hunt. Before being hanged, he said to one of the police nearby, “I killed tigers not liking their killing other innocent animals in their jurisdiction. I killed many kinds of birds because they killed many smaller creatures for their living. I killed many politicians and celebrities because they spoilt this nation like never before. I did not like injustice and unrest in this world being perpetrated by one set of mighty creatures against another set of weaker and voiceless creatures. I exercised a kind of reformation. You thought killing me one kind of social reformation. God knows who is right. I am happy to be hanged now”.

It is difficult to assess who practice ethics and how they are right from their perspectives and why they are considered wrong from others’ perspectives. Ethics are noble and admirable principles meant to keep one happy and satisfied at one’s level. We can’t find even one person in this world who can understand and practice ethics 100% in everything he or she does. Following them 100% means killing oneself when one understands that many are suffering and dying due to different kinds of helplessness to which he is not subjected for some other reasons. So, practicing honesty, sincerity, kindness, openness, fairness and idealism in most of the things we do in our lives is our realistic contribution to our improvement at personal, societal, spiritual or national level. It is doing something good for our satisfaction and certification than for other selfish goals always.