A friend of mine is looking to get a new car (he has to), but due circumstances (like most of us), he is trying to be careful with his finances. He wants a full EV, but because of the cost, is considering a hybrid instead. However, unlike my normal stance on consumption, I think he should get what he wants.
The reason is that he isn't buying the car with cash, he will get it on finance, and the monthly difference is going to be insignificant to him, as he isn't likely to use the saved gap for anything better anyway. However, if he gets the hybrid, no matter how much he tries to justify the monetary saving, every time he gets in it, every time he sees an EVC, he is going to be disappointed in himself. Because, he is someone who believes that choosing an EV is a better choice for the environment, which means not getting an EV makes an impact on his moral position.
Alternatively, if he buys the EV he wants, the monthly payments aren't that much more, but every time he gets into his car, he doesn't feel like he has missed out, and he gets the sense that he has done the right thing, even if it isn't necessarily true. There is personal value in maintaining a consistent moral stance, and for him as someone who has been espousing environmental sustainability for many years, there is value in making the shift. While earlier the financial "gap" might have been too large, as prices have closed and his salary increased, he can afford to take the risk and trade that gap cash for a sense of personal integrity.
Personal integrity.
It only really seems to be adhered to when convenient to do so, these days. If the incentives are high enough, people will find any number of ways to justify the selling of their moral position for profit.
Integrity is demonstrated when you believe no one will ever know what you have done.
We live in a world where people record everything they do with the intention of sharing it publicly with strangers. What we post online of ourselves, is not reflective of our integrity, because we are doing it for an audience, knowing that people are going to see it and judge us. And, we want them to judge us, as long as the judgement supports the outcome we desire - which other than for the masochists, is generally favorable.
Some people seem to think that having integrity is sticking to their guns, holding onto their beliefs, but I don't see it this way at all. For me, integrity is doing what we believe is right to do at the time, but if we find out that it is no longer the right thing to do, or there are better ways, we change. However, if we are actively avoiding information that contradicts our belief, we do not have integrity.
From my own experience, a lot of passionate religious people, don't have integrity because they aren't willing to entertain the idea that they are wrong, let alone actively seek to prove their position false. If their belief has integrity, it will hold up under all scrutiny - yet they seem afraid that the bridge they have built to get to their heaven, is missing some load-bearing supports and might collapse, if inspected too closely. While it is untested, it stands.
Similarly, a lot of traders don't have integrity, because they will actively seek to make the highest returns on their investments, even if what they are investing into is harmful. They justify this in many ways for instance, saying that others are going to invest and make profits, so it is better I have the money than those assholes. Where there is demand, there will be supply, if the incentive to supply is high enough.
Using the same justification, there are people who sell children into sexual slavery, because if they don't, someone else is going to anyway. So what they do is weigh up the costs of being caught, to the potential for making money and if the ratio is acceptable, they will do it.
It is a crime of calculation.
They say "be true to yourself", yet how many of us are truly acting in a way that closely matches our moral position? How many of us are justifying our bad behaviors, because we think it is leading to some kind of greater good?
Behind closed doors.
At least publicly, the majority of trading is blind, meaning that we don't know who is buying and selling what and in what kinds of volumes. Similarly, we don't know what all those religious people who pray each day, do that conflicts with their belief systems once they feel they aren't being watched.
If they saw themselves objectively, would they consider themselves good?
Unfortunately, we have created and support an economy that is so heavily flawed, it doesn't serve us. It is designed to serve power, corporate entities, and the maximization of itself, not the wellbeing of humanity. But, rather than shine a light on the economic beliefs we hold as bridges in the economy and test the integrity, we keep looking to buy into it, even when we know what we are buying, goes against our morals and won't make a difference in the world we live.
We keep trying to make ends meet.
But the ends will never meet, because they aren't made to. The economy is designed to run at a deficit for the majority, so it can run at a surplus for the minority, because that is how power is gained and maintained. That is the purpose of a centralized economy. It isn't about facilitating greater equality of opportunity, it is about restricting access, bottlenecking supply, and creating unnatural scarcity in resources that don't matter, so a few people can take ownership of the few that do.
Making a difference isn't a change in belief, it is a change in behavior. And, if we want to actually make a positive difference toward what we believe would be a better world, we are going to have to put our resources where our mouth is and,
Incentivize the change we want to see in the world.
It comes at a cost.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
I'm not about to start an argument on religion, but I think your assumption in that fifth paragraph leaves out the idea of faith. I was always taught that it isn't a bad thing to question and test your beliefs. The idea is that God is big enough to handle your doubts. Ultimately though, there is a component of blind faith that comes into play no matter what facts or arguments might say. That's my thinking anyway. Definite conviction on the sharing my life with strangers thing though!
If there was true faith, where is the risk in testing it, and why get upset when people disagree on what is ultimately unprovable? I am not excluding that it isn't possible, but to me it looks far more like people have doubts and their faith in god to take them away isn't strong enough, so they avoid investigating it themselves.
Faith should be like a science or a skill, tested. People arguing against a belief isn't the test, the test is in the response. And, only the individual can be the judge. As said, behind closed doors, when no one is witness, is the integrity in the faith still there? Or is a person avoiding to really investigate that question, just in case it is not?
I have nothing against people believing in a god, even though I do not. However, I am happy to be proven wrong, but no person can provide the evidence to do so.
I get what you are saying, but I think at some point the evidence may never be there, which is where faith comes in. I feel the same way about the arguing. I'm definitely open to different points of view, but ultimately I have faith in what I believe, so arguing to the point of contention isn't worth it.
I don't think it can be there by design. My argument is generally that many people have faith, but don't necessarily act according to their beliefs.
Well that isn't anything new! Lots of people do really bad things in the name of religion for sure.
I agree with your assessment that it is usually better to go for something you want instead of regretting it later. In your friend's example, the difference isn't that big, and he wouldn't suffer for that choice anyways.
As for the topic of integrity, I do believe that everyone has a price. If we're going extremes, I would probably pick my family over a country, or a large group of people. But there would be no sense to choosing my family over the world, where there will be nothing left afterwards. If it is a choice in morality, I would go for the one that is good, regardless of whether others are doing it or would do it.
Integrity and morality are always situational, aren't they? Everyone has a price, or a fear threshold that if crossed, will be justification enough to contradict.
There is also massive level of brainwashing. Elite people choose what you do and what you do with your investments too. They make sure to put up the mines of manipulation every step of the way. They designed the system to serve them.
It is a stacked deck and the longer it lives, the more stacked it becomes.
Buying to our integrity's desires is a percentage, at best but it's what we can do to increase that percentage. We got the obligatory stuff to pay for, and when there's nothing left we should look for ways of changing that.
But small instant gratification purchases of bad habits in small packages tend to come even before bills, etc.
How about having enough to satisfy and justify, and then have a surplus to turn onto integrity's path...
That's the continuum we can largely move on, either towards larger percentage of good votes made with our wallet, or towards bad ones.
When it comes to bad habits... they are about buying peace of mind. So, the mind should change first. Not the 1mind we control but the one we can't.
Little steps or one great jump?
Buying peace of mind, or buying forgiveness. If we act well, what do we need to be forgiven for?
Nah, the buying of sh** is the act that needs forgiveness. The reasons for it are within the mindset that we need some immediate reward for lasting through the hour or something. I know I do it, still. Some nice kind of physical activity might substitute for that, temporarily. Not always as available... for now.
I feel like in a deja vu.
I don't have an EV but driving one is weird. I can't seem to get used to it but I have driven them a few times. So honestly, I think your friend should just go with whatever he is comfortable with. Hybrid or full EV, I don't think there is too much of a difference because the hybrid will be running on EV most of the time anyways.
Integrity is tough. I think that most people tend to have a price for most things. This could be money or actions. It depends on what people want and most of the time, the people in charge don't really care about us.
For him, this is probably true, for me it wouldn't be, as there is a distance thing. However, there is a difference in personal contentment. I know hi quite well and he would "feel" the choice he made either more positively or negatively depending.
Yep. Everyone has a price, and no one truly knows what theirs is, until conditions are met.
Hi @tarazkp . Yes, it's part of being consistent with what we want and where we are going. Our decisions should go in that direction. And if there is something we need to correct, it is better the humility to do it than the rigidity to hold something that will not lead us to something good. Inner peace is very important. That is why we want to be happy with ourselves thanks to the results we are obtaining. I liked your reflections. Greetings
I wonder how many people have inner peace, yet their actions are harmful? It would be an interesting metric. They say, do what you think is right, but no one praises a violent dictator for doing just that.
Never loose hope.
I taught at a charter school that was guided by five character values: Leadership, Courage, Curiosity, Concern, and Integrity. We told the kids that integrity is doing what we believe is right, even when it isn't an easy or comfortable choice. I think our definitions are aligned. Of course, if we learn a better way or our thinking is changed, then what we know to be right can change -- actions of integrity.
I wish it didn't take me a year in business school to earn a master's in finance to realize all this myself first-hand. Maybe I was just being naive or thought I could make a difference. Ultimately, I didn't have the drive or discipline to take on the status quo. Instead, I am making small changes for myself and have returned to the classroom so that I can try and make a difference for the next generation!