Ethical dilemma <--- Help!
The ClubHouse: The Game II - Mysterious Puzzler: Discussions/Challenges:
Ethical dilemma <--- Help!
Ocean_Islands | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 11:52 am  Here's a situation: I know a wise man whom I have been consulting for a long time. He helps me a great deal, and is almost always right. I've sent many people to see him and he has helped them all. But yesterday I learned that this entire time I have known him, he not only is a slumlord of many poor people, but he is also a pimp. He charges high rents to people for very shabby places to live, and when they cannot pay, he evicts them. On the whole he makes a lot of money off of them. He also has a lot of prostitutes that he has managed for a long time; in fact, some of them might be underage. He makes a lot of money off of them also. Do I continue to see him for his excellent advice and ignore the knowledge of these activities, or do I refuse to see him again due to these things? What should I do? |
Juju2bigdog | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 12:04 pm  that dang Merlin is moonlighting again! |
Guruchaz | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 12:06 pm  Hmmm, if the question you seek involves money matters then I would definitely see him for advice. He seems money motivated. huh huh For everything else, I'd stay away. If you're bold enough, you could even tell him how you feel and that you won't be back for advice but appreciate the advice he has given. |
Azriel | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 12:17 pm  Some people are good at that 'do as I say not as I do' stuff. |
Spamgirl | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 01:30 pm  Good lord, OI! That's gotta sting... I think that although you don't always approve of what your friends do, they're still your friends, and if they benefit your life - it's worth it. |
Ocean_Islands | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 02:31 pm  This is a hypothetical situation by the way, it's not real. It's an ethical dilemma that has echoes in our every day lives. |
Cammie | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 02:53 pm  Wow, OI, I was startin to think you had a really exciting life! I'd have to get everything out in the open with the friend. Even if you don't remain friends, its better to get it off your chest. |
Spamgirl | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 02:56 pm  Aw, Oi... I thought you were hanging out with the wrong crowd... ruined another fantasy ;) |
Merlin | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 04:28 pm  If you are asking what I would do in this situation, this is my response. I have friends who have something about their lives I do not agree with. In return, there are many things about my life that they probably don't agree with. If I became friends with someone, and discovered later on there was something that violated my morals, I would have to at least tell them how I felt about it. In this hypothetical case, I would continue to seek the advice, but at the same time the knowledge of his activities would have me listen to him in a different way. I would look at the potential that this person could transform his business activities. |
Ocean_Islands | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 04:29 pm  Well in this hypothetical situation, the person is not exactly a friend but an advisor. So you're saying that I should just ignore this person's other activities and take his advice? How can I ignore what this person is involved in? |
Guruchaz | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 04:33 pm  If you had to choose between a homeless person on the street and Leona Helmsley, which one would you ask about tax advice? |
Juju2bigdog | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 04:38 pm  You can't Ocean. You are a closet do-gooder. You are obliged to cease seeking advice from this person and begin dispensing it. You must not relent until you have brought him to the brink of financial ruin, and then you must personally put the hair shirt on him. You can write a book about the experience and use the funds from it to raise your former adviser from the gutter to which you consigned him with your pesky do-goodiness. Then the two of you can go on the lecture circuit and hold seminars with mysterious subject titles in sleazy Holiday Inns. You can buy cheap watches during the breaks at the concomitant cheap watch salesroom and resell them on the streets of Manhattan to unsuspecting tourists. <Juju slaps self>
or not. |
Ocean_Islands | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 04:45 pm  Well it wouldn't do any good consulting a homeless person unless they were a tax advisor, though I would prefer the homeless person to a tax criminal. I think what you are saying if I may translate, is: Why would you ask advice of someone who does not have their own house in order. And that is a good answer. I would never ask advice of someone who mistreated other people. Because even though a lot of their advice might be good, ultimately I could not trust it because our outlook on the world is totally different, and somewhere along the line, that would come into play. |
Ocean_Islands | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 04:47 pm  Lol Ju but what about you. Are you a do-badder? |
Spamgirl | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 04:57 pm  I think the point is - with the homeless person, you at least have a chance that the advice they give you could be good advice. |
Juju2bigdog | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 05:17 pm  Ocean, Juju's just a broke down do-bad wannabe. I probably would not buy and resell the watches. |
Misslibra | Sunday, January 14, 2001 - 08:14 pm  Yes I would distances myself from that person if they were doing all the slimy things you said they were doing. Especially since I wouldn't have any close ties to the person anyway. He is not a relative, and going by what your saying not a friend. And how wise can he be anyway if he is doing all those things ??  |
Juju2bigdog | Friday, January 19, 2001 - 06:16 pm  Okay, here is one from today's newspaper. Omaha, Nebraska, associated press: Shirley G., a WalMart employee, noticed in photographs being developed by walmart a photo of an infant crawling in what appeared to be a pile of marijuana with $50 and $100 bills lying around. the child had bruises on his body. shirley gave copies of the photos to the police, which resulted in a person involved with the child and photos being prosecuted and the child being placed in foster care. should WalMart have fired Shirley for violating its customer confidentiality policy? |
Guruchaz | Friday, January 19, 2001 - 06:28 pm  No, a child's morality and well-being was saved |
Azriel | Friday, January 19, 2001 - 06:42 pm  If Walmart fires Shirley, I won't be shopping there anymore. It's a policy that should have some limitations, this being one of them. If someone sent in child pornography to be developed they would have to break their policy because they would be required by law to report it. I think child abuse would fall in that same category. |
Merlin | Friday, January 19, 2001 - 06:43 pm  No. Shirley should not be fired. If this was a violation of company policy, it could be addressed in some other mannner that would not result in her being fired. In Texas, my understanding is the law reads you must report suspected child abuse. I know for sure that employees who work in day care facilities are required by law to report suspected cases of abuse. |
Spamgirl | Friday, January 19, 2001 - 07:02 pm  Walmart rulez! I don't care what you say! No. |
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