Moral and Ethics have been a part of human decision since the dawn of man. But, is this critical decision process, sometimes an internal conflict of right and wrong, created by our own experiences or social opinion? I believe they are both a conglomerate of personal character and social behavior. We, since childhood, have been raised by the beliefs of our parents, their parents, and the beliefs of generations past. We naturally conform to the ideals of our family, we idolize the actions, spiritual insight, and habits that best fit our life styles within the family environment. In turn, our parents hope to have instilled enough knowledge for us to survive independently in this now chaotic world.
As time passes we enter the world on our own; Many young and brash with new ideas to change the world. Though, as we all know, the world has a way to hit us between the eyes when least expected. With these trials of success and failure, do the outcomes affect our perception of decisions? Or, do we change to conform to society and the demand society places on us to be successful and correct? Sometimes I believe we all conform to society in certain situations, such as a person’s job is on the line if he or she does not have that competitive edge to win. With that example, the moral and ethical decisions may be altered for self protection, survivability(money to pay bills), and/or competitive advantage. The possibility of doing more harm then good is very plausible, if not for certain if the motivation is to support greed or ego.
In retrospect, we all make positive moral and ethical decisions as well. Some decisions go unnoticed publicly, but internally we improve. There are times in which people have no choice to do what is morally or ethically correct, believe me I know. In 2002 I was diagnosed with testicle cancer. My oncologist advised me to take OxyContin to relieve the pain I was enduring. Up to that point in my life I never took any illegal drugs, nor RX narcotic medications. Though with what I was facing I agreed, I needed relief from what I would call a “Living Hell”. After a period of three months I became dependent, or addicted to this narcotic. Truthfully, the addiction to the drug was worse then the pain I faced. My doctor agreed to place me in a detoxification program through medication treatments. I recovered from the cancer and the OxyContin, but it did not come without a price. I now suffer from heart problems due to this. I say this not to gain pity, but to open the eyes to the readers that each choice you make comes with a price. I was willing to pay the price to live. With this price I truly think I gained insight, not just about the world, but of my true strength to survive, to love openly, and to be free of the internal struggles of emotional connection to materials. In the end it is our desires and personal needs that creates positive and/or negative morals and ethics.
