4 ms·

It can be legal to be an asshole, but you're still an asshole. It may be legal to act in an unethical manner, but you're still acting unethically. We absolutel

It can be legal to be an asshole, but you're still an asshole. It may be legal to act in an unethical manner, but you're still acting unethically. We absolutely are in the "current climate" because the industry cared about profit above all else, because they could.

gruez 5y ago
This presumes there's an universal definition of asshole/unethical that everyone agrees on. You might think paying workers minimum wage is asshole/unethical, so you pay above it even though it's above market rate. Other business owners disagree and undercut you, causing you to be driven out of business. You think they're assholes and fume in your head about how evil they are, but they think nothing's wrong and you're just a bad businessman. Is it fair to denounce them for the way their acted, because their morals don't match up with yours?
- boston_clone 5y ago
  People doing things worse is rarely a valid justification for not doing things better. What a weird approach to ethics in this thread. Are our moral goals no longer about improving and setting a higher bar for how we conduct ourselves? Have we succumbed to material wants and ego at the cost of decency? Goodness gracious.
  - gruez 5y ago
    I don't think you'll find much objections to doing good, but but where do you stop? Say the minimum wage is $10 and you decide to pay your workers $15. You still get flak from people who want you to pay even higher (see: amazon getting flak despite paying above market/minimum wage). Do you just turn your business into a non-profit? After all, any profit means there's money that could be spent doing good.
- jjulius 5y ago
  They can be a better businessman and still be an asshole. The two are not mutually exclusive.
colinmhayes 5y ago
There will always be people who are willing to be assholes for money. Yea they're an asshole, but they're not actually making things worse since there are plenty of people ready to replace them.

gruez 5y ago

This presumes there's an universal definition of asshole/unethical that everyone agrees on. You might think paying workers minimum wage is asshole/unethical, so you pay above it even though it's above market rate. Other business owners disagree and undercut you, causing you to be driven out of business. You think they're assholes and fume in your head about how evil they are, but they think nothing's wrong and you're just a bad businessman. Is it fair to denounce them for the way their acted, because their morals don't match up with yours?

boston_clone 5y ago
People doing things worse is rarely a valid justification for not doing things better. What a weird approach to ethics in this thread. Are our moral goals no longer about improving and setting a higher bar for how we conduct ourselves? Have we succumbed to material wants and ego at the cost of decency? Goodness gracious.
- gruez 5y ago
  I don't think you'll find much objections to doing good, but but where do you stop? Say the minimum wage is $10 and you decide to pay your workers $15. You still get flak from people who want you to pay even higher (see: amazon getting flak despite paying above market/minimum wage). Do you just turn your business into a non-profit? After all, any profit means there's money that could be spent doing good.
jjulius 5y ago
They can be a better businessman and still be an asshole. The two are not mutually exclusive.

colinmhayes 5y ago

There will always be people who are willing to be assholes for money. Yea they're an asshole, but they're not actually making things worse since there are plenty of people ready to replace them.