Wednesday, October 30, 2013

No, Not Everyone Has a Price


If you find yourself justifying some behavior by,

"Everyone has  price  - "

Stop. It's just not true. Ronda has been disappointed (more than once) by "friends" of hers who have taken advantage of her success in various ways. Their explanation - "I needed the money."

I've often seen athletes and administrators in sports turn a blind eye to unethical behavior, even as extreme as molesting young athletes, using the argument that,

"This position, the money I make will allow me to help other athletes"

I've heard plenty of parents use the argument,

"I had to (fill in unethical behavior X here) because I needed the money for my children."

Maybe if your children are starving, that might be a valid argument but in no situation of which I've been aware was that the case.

Maria, Ronda's oldest sister, is a sports writer, and an excellent one at that. She could have written some tabloid type book and made money, but I know it would never cross her mind, and she'd be shocked if I brought it up. There's some thing more important  you need to give your children than money to buy the latest designer clothes and electronic toys, and that is a model of the type of person you want them to grow up to be.

There is something more important to give athletes than money, and that is an environment free from predatory coaches and corrupt officials.

There is something more important to give yourself than money, and that is self-respect.

Yes, you can't eat self-respect, but I've gone hungry before and it didn't kill me. And, as Carly Fiorina said,
"Once you sell your soul, no one can ever buy it back for you."

5 comments:

Unknown said...

So true (and insightful as always)!

It reminds me of the joke about this older man and a beautiful young lady:

Older man: If I gave you $100,000 would you sleep with me?

Young Lady: Yes, I would do that for $100,000.

The man then asks -"would you sleep with me for $10?

Young lady: (offended) what type of lady do you take me for?!?

Older man: You established that when you said yes. Now we are just negotiating over the price...

Anonymous said...

I disagree to an extent. I don't think that the specific examples you gave are justifiable, but there are times when doing things you normally wouldn't do for money is a good idea. I don't think that you'll lose your soul doing it, good people can do bad things sometimes. I think that people who have to do stuff like that should do it until they can resume living scrupulously again. I was once a thief, I'm quick and cunning, so I never had to physically hurt anyone, I just picked their pockets with discreetness and also stole goods. I was still just a kid at the time, a runaway who joined a theives guild. There are plenty of such subcultures and they're largely under the radar. How many people are aware of the train-hopper subculture?

Anonymous said...

The Word of God -

Proverbs Chapter 6, V. 16 - 18:

THESE SIX THINGS DO THE LORD HATE: YEA, SEVEN ARE AN ABOMINATION UNTO HIM: A PROUD LOOK, A LYING TONGUE, AND HANDS THAT SHED INNOCENT BLOOD, AN HEART THAT DEVISETH WICKED IMAGINATIONS, FEET THAT BE SWIFT IN RUNNING TO MISCHIEF, A FALSE WITNESS THAT SPEAKETH LIES, AND HE THAT SOWETH DISCORD AMONG BRETHREN.

MEDITATE ON THESE THINGS.

Dr. AnnMaria said...

Robert-
I was thinking of that exact same joke when I wrote this!

Anonymous -
As I said, none of the people I mentioned were starving. Being a runaway is one thing. Living in the suburbs and wanting a bigger house or nicer clothes for your kids is a completely different situation, in my opinion

dsimon3387 said...

As a society we seem to value ethical behavoir less and less. Kids are taught to compete in school so they can get a great job. In so doing it becomes justified to get ahead at all costs, reading between the lines.....I teach my kids to take a step back.

a)I am not raising them to get a great job...Why would I raise them to labor for another? I am raising them to be ethical, creative and well educated. I teach them martial arts to learn to persavere.
b) I taught them (including a year of home schooling) to read and write, including reading financial statements....along with critical thinking.
c) I taught them that one's name, and ethical integrity is our most important possesion. It harbingers trust or a lack there-of.

My assumption is that instead of rat racing, competing with others they will find a way to distinguish oneself from the crowd.

My point is that all these excuses we use for joining into the destruction, delusion and social control that make up a good part of a young person's world these days is never ok. We all feed into it by not finding a different way with more integrity. Pills that sedate, adults that harass, and the idea that some morally reprobate actions are necessary "to get ahead" is never acceptable.