Ethics Thread

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Since he is renting a DVR, he is paying Comcast additional money to be able to record shows as well. The only issue is space - that's why he is copying it over. As long as you watch and purge (and don't share) the recording I see no issue with it.
 
Here's one. A couple years ago I saw a group of young teens pass by a bodega. One of the bodegas with the bins of fruit outside the store. The store owner was inside stocking a shelf, maybe 10 feet from me. As the teens passed, I noticed one teen swiped a mango, and put it under his shirt while the other boys giggled.

I could have said something to the teens, and I could have said something to the owner. I didn't... I figured it was none of my business, especially for such a low ticket item as a mango.

Unethical to mind my own business?
 
Unethical to mind my own business?

Maybe. The ethical move would probably have been to tell the store owner that the kids had swiped some of his fruit. Then it's up to him if he wants to try to recover the fruit. Of course if he calls the cops then he'll probably want to you hang around and then you end up in the middle of this schmozzle all because of a little mango.

I would have done as you did, it's not like these kids were breaking into a house or stealing a car.
 
Do situational ethics apply? What if, instead of kids stealing a mango it was a businessman in suit and tie?

What if you knew the teens were broke, homeless, hungry and supporting 3 little brothers and sisters? (Think the movie "Aladdin".)

Is there a difference?
 
Ok, if there are no sirens yet and services have been paid for. You can either complete said service or obtain a refund, I don't think she would object to the refund.
 
Dan, I have had a similar experience at HD and Lowes, I was told that sometimes the system is loaded with a price and the item is tagged higher on the floor. The employee has to go with the computer , so I think you tried to do the right thing and good on you.
 
Dan, I have had a similar experience at HD and Lowes, I was told that sometimes the system is loaded with a price and the item is tagged higher on the floor. The employee has to go with the computer , so I think you tried to do the right thing and good on you.

This happened to me a Lowes a few years ago. I went to buy a dozen large retaining wall blocks. The price in the system was 50% less than what they had marked on the floor. Lowes said they were required to honor the price. I got greedy and bought 2 pallets.

I thought I got a great deal until they showed up. Do you have any idea how many retaining walls you have to build to get rid of 512 large retaining wall blocks? I built walls around every tree, every garden, and anywhere else I could put them. I still have a small pile left. I'll never get rid of them all.

Unethical? Probably, but Karma took care of me. ;)
 
Ok back on task ;). Here's a good one. Is putting together a costume that makes it look as if no one is driving a car, and then ordering drive-through at McDonalds and filming the workers' reactions good, clean, harmless fun... or is it cruelly messing with underpaid workers who just want to finish their hard day of work and go home?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sidesho...es-workers-questioning-reality-214808352.html
 
I don't think there is going to be any long term effects, as I thought they took it well, and it was funny
 
CreamyGoodness said:
Ok back on task ;). Here's a good one. Is putting together a costume that makes it look as if no one is driving a car, and then ordering drive-through at McDonalds and filming the workers' reactions good, clean, harmless fun... or is it cruelly messing with underpaid workers who just want to finish their hard day of work and go home?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/drive-thru-prank-leaves-workers-questioning-reality-214808352.html

I don't think that there is anything ethically wrong but it is funny as hell.
 
Ok, I got one. I don't think there are any laws against doing this, so, is it unethical to knowingly sell homebrew kit to people under 21?
 
I think it would be, yeah, especially if you know they are using it without the knowledge of their parents. If you are selling to Yooper's kid, I say whatevs.
 
I would say unethical if it was crystal clear they were going to attempt to make beer. I don't see any ethic problem if it was only the equipment and there were no questions on ingredients or yeast.
 
fuzzy2133 said:
I would say unethical if it was crystal clear they were going to attempt to make beer. I don't see any ethic problem if it was only the equipment and there were no questions on ingredients or yeast.

They be getting for their dad or brewing for the school science fair. I think if they're over 18 it's on the buyer.
 
One more. An acquaintance of mine from college lives in the city, and has been slowly delving into madness. He thinks he has been screwed out of his inheritance (his family has no money for him to inherit), and thinks he has been barred from working, as he hasnt gotten the jobs he has tried for (he's a dancer, btw... while he is a very good dancer, it is still difficult to get a paying gig).

A few months ago I got a facebook message, "hey James do you have a couch I can crash on for a while?"

Knowing that this would become my problem, and my wife and I would be in a house with a crazy person for an extended period of time (I would likely have to physically eject him) I ignored the message twice.

He is currently living on the street as of a few weeks ago.

Unethical to not help a friend in need?
 
I think it depends on the situation.

If the person is aware of their problem and trying to do something about it and just needs some temporary help then I think you should help.

If the person isn't trying to fix their problems or won't acknowledge their problems, there is not much you can do. You really don't want his situation to spill over into your life. It won't help either of you. Sometimes hitting rock bottom is what a person needs to get some help. Keeping in touch and being there when that happens is the main thing.

I have a brother who is bi-polar. He can't keep a job. He's been homeless a few times for very short periods of time. He is tough to deal with. He refuses to stay on his meds, and won't admit he's got problems. He's alienated a lot of my family by 'crashing' at their houses for months at a time until they kick him out. When he's medicated, he's fine. When he's not he waffles between sleeping for days and manic episodes that go on and on. He drinks to self-medicate.
 
It just gets tiring when someone is not willing to help themself yet continually wants to involve you in their personal drama.
I have taught my wife about tough love and it took a few years but we are not allowing others to spnge off of us financially, mentally, spritually or emotionally anymore.
Basically it comes to if they are draining you, how can you take care of you and yours?
 
If you do let him stay at your house you should make some sort agreement with him that if he isn't doing anything to help himself he has to leave.
 
Reminds me of a favorite William S. Burroughs quote (actually, all his quotes are my favorite, even if I probably wouldnt have liked him personally)

"If, after having been exposed to a person's presence, you feel as if you have lost a quote of plasma... avoid that presence. You need it like you need pernicious anemia."
 
CreamyGoodness said:
Reminds me of a favorite William S. Burroughs quote (actually, all his quotes are my favorite, even if I probably wouldnt have liked him personally)

"If, after having been exposed to a person's presence, you feel as if you have lost a quote of plasma... avoid that presence. You need it like you need pernicious anemia."

Wow, I work with a few people like that.
 
Assisted Suicide?

Should someone suffering a terminal illness with zero (or less than 0.001% chance for math nerds) chance of recovery, who is of sound mind and capable of understanding and making their own decisions be able to seek assisted suicide from a medical professional?

We all know how the courts ruled in regards to Kevorkian, so mine is obviously an ethical and not a legal question.
 
Assisted Suicide?

Should someone suffering a terminal illness with zero (or less than 0.001% chance for math nerds) chance of recovery, who is of sound mind and capable of understanding and making their own decisions be able to seek assisted suicide from a medical professional?

We all know how the courts ruled in regards to Kevorkian, so mine is obviously an ethical and not a legal question.

If not for modern medical technology a person in that state would probably have passed on. Yes?
 
Jukas said:
Assisted Suicide?

Should someone suffering a terminal illness with zero (or less than 0.001% chance for math nerds) chance of recovery, who is of sound mind and capable of understanding and making their own decisions be able to seek assisted suicide from a medical professional?

We all know how the courts ruled in regards to Kevorkian, so mine is obviously an ethical and not a legal question.

I wouldn't want to tell someone they couldn't but I don't think I could do that myself. If they would be able to do themselves by whatever means but wanted to do it painless and quick I guess it's their decision.
 
Always reminds me of the 81 Richard Dreyfuss flick, "Whose life is it anyway". I'm too much of an optimist and value the beauty of life to take that route, but agree it should be an option for others.
 
I have made it well known to those closest to me that I shall not be a burden upon anyone.
 
If not for modern medical technology a person in that state would probably have passed on. Yes?

Unfortunately not always. My Dad's neighbor had some form of terminal cancer and was a young guy (under 40) with small children. He tried the full chemo route etc and it had spread too far to be non terminal. He spent the last year of his life in varying degrees of pain where all the doctors could do was attempt to manage his pain with narcotics and prescribing medical marijuana.

You could probably argue that the rounds of chemo he did, gave him that last year, but we'll never know how long he would have lasted if he hadn't done the chemo, and arguably his quality of life might have been better had he not done it.
 
I have made it well known to those closest to me that I shall not be a burden upon anyone.

I've got all kinds of rules. There needs to be a wake with a live band and a couple kegs of HB. Oh yeah, she can't put me in the ground when it is raining. Too depressing.
 
I've got all kinds of rules. There needs to be a wake with a live band and a couple kegs of HB. Oh yeah, she can't put me in the ground when it is raining. Too depressing.

I've always thought I'd like to be cremated, then flushed. The thought of a bunch of people dressed in black, crammed in my bathroom, standing around a toilet while Amazing Grace plays in the background is about the funniest thing I can imagine.:D

I do have a strange sense of humor though.
 
I think if you willingly enter into an agreement with someone and then attempt to secretly violate the terms of the agreement, it's almost always unethical, whether the agreement is with a credit card company, Comcast, mega-box store or 3-card monte dealer (Maybe we should have a separate poll to rank the ethics of those 4 entities).

If you are given the wrong change or charged the wrong price, I think it's your ethical duty to correct the mistake, although if you wanted to apply some sort of crude cost-benefit analysis, I'd be okay with that; I'm not saying you should drive 50 miles to fix someone else's 10 cent mistake. If you would complain about being given insufficient change or being overcharged, I can't see how you would treat the situation differently just because you're on the other side. Especially if you invest in stocks or mutual funds.
 
So heres one for you. A friends wife is heavily involved in the PTA. She stores a lot of the things at her house, i.e. plastic cups, plastic ware, plates, etc. once the functions are complete and there are remaining items, she sometimes uses them. The PTA paid for the items for a specific function and these are the leftovers. Ethical or unethical?

Unethical.
 
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