Situational Ethics

Author's note: the following is excerpted from a column that I wrote in 2006, when I worked for Ford Motor Company. In it, I talk about ethical issues, and how our view is at times affected by our personal circumstances:

When I lived in the City of Belleville, in the house on the northeast corner of West Columbia and Edison, across from St. Anthony Church, my neighbor was a forthright, self-reliant individualist who drove a compact Nissan pickup truck.

 In those days, probably 20 years ago at this point, to drive a Japanese import in the Midwest was unusual, and to brag about it was unheard of.

 “Real Americans Buy What They Want” was what the bumper sticker, placed on the rear window of the pickup, read.  He was unhappy with the quality of domestic vehicles, and wasn’t afraid to say it.

 As an employee of a company which designs and manufactures domestic vehicles, I wrestled with his attitude. He was knowledgeable about cars, that’s for sure, and he had every right to his opinion, and to the freedom he claimed to buy an alternative.

 I supported that back then, and was proud to live in a country that permitted him to say and to do that. I believed in the First Amendment.

 But I must admit that I secretly rejoiced when the pickup began to rust. It had a seam in the middle of the quarter panel sheet metal, and the unsightly spots and blemishes of rust that appeared and festered gave me furtive delight – God knew, and God was on my side.

 Lately, however, I’m beginning to wonder if my attitude is changing, or has changed altogether, toward Americans who buy and drive vehicles designed and made by manufacturers whose primary operations and headquarters are offshore. I’ve become, it seems, less tolerant, and that bothers me.

 In a larger context, what really bothers me is whether I’m guilty of situational ethics, where my views toward right and wrong are based on my particular status in life. Or can I still claim the moral high ground on ethical issues?

 As a Philosophy major in college, the issue is important to me. Am I philosophically consistent?

 When I was in college, mind growing like a mushroom, I read a book titled “The Evolution of Liberalism,” by Harry Girvetz. I’ve long been a sucker for Political Philosophy, and was captivated by his defense of modern liberalism, where the state takes an active role in righting social wrongs.

 I shared his ideas with my mother, who pronounced it “rubbish.” Interestingly, it was the same word GM used to describe New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s controversial statement that, the sooner that Toyota takes over GM, the better off we’ll all be.

  At that point in my mother’s life, in her 40’s, she embraced the spirit of rugged individualism that is the hallmark of modern conservatism, and dismissed Girvetz’s, and my, ideas.

 Interestingly, however, as decades passed, each of us wound up embracing the polar opposite of the political philosophies we supported when I was in college.

 She became a Democrat, and hated George W. Bush to the point where, when he appeared on television, she would avert her eyes – she wouldn’t look at the man. And I voted for him – twice.

 She thought O.J. Simpson was innocent. When he was acquitted of the criminal charges against him, I had to write a note to her acknowledging I was wrong. Before she died almost four years ago, she made a point of returning it to me, so I would forever be reminded that she was right. I still have the note.

 I wondered at this transformation in her, and concluded it was because she had moved past the stage of life where you just want the government to get out of your way, manifested most clearly in an antipathy toward taxes.

 Now, she was dependent on government largesse, receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits. She relied on tax receipts from all of us to make her life more comfortable. She felt she was safer with Al Gore or John Kerry as President.

 Will my attitudes evolve in the same way? Will I slowly become, God forbid, a Democrat, who believes in a powerful state to take care of its citizens, as if we were children?

 Only time will tell. I hope I can remain on the moral high ground of ethical consistency that continues to value personal freedom at the expense of dependence on a powerful state.

 But these attitude changes have a life of their own, it seems, and when you have a personal stake in the potential outcome, the instinct for self-preservation sometimes trumps the forum of lofty ideas.