An obituary for the sad passing of our old friend, Morality
Nury Vittachi
With deep sorrow, I regretfully have to inform the world about the sad death of
Morality. She died recently after a long, slow illness. Morality was at least
2000 years old.
Her death was not unexpected, as her entire family has had a bad run in recent
decades. Morality’s mother, Values, died in Wall Street in the 1980s. Her
father, Justice, was murdered in a contract killing by the world’s highest paid
lawyers at OJ Simpson’s trial in 1995. Morality herself kept a low profile for
the past 20 years, and now, at the time of her death, has been almost
forgotten.
She is being mourned only in churches, temples, and other places considered
"old-fashioned and out of touch" by the majority of modern people. But her
death matters: none of her three children, Integrity, Ethics and Humanity, are
likely to survive without her.
Such were my gloomy thoughts looking through my diary last week. Three
incidents led me to believe that morality had left us.. First, I saw a pair of
trainee filmmakers returning from an overseas trip with bags full of copied
DVDs. They didn’t seem to realize they had just robbed themselves.
Second, the headmaster of a high class school gave a speech to his pupils
telling them they must not steal things from other students "because you may
get caught". He didn’t realize that stealing is wrong even if you don’t get
caught.
Third, I was at a meeting where a senior university administrator told
students: "Do not download pirate software onto university computers. It’s fine
to do that at home, but not here." Er, no, it isn’t fine to do that at home.
In a moral world, we do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. In
a world without morality, everyone does whatever they think they can get away
with: that’s an ugly, scary place, but that’s the world we are creating for
ourselves.
But then came a piece of good news. A friend at the BBC told me that his
organization had commissioned one of the world’s cleverest people, top Harvard
professor Michael Sandel, to identify the biggest problems of today’s world.
The boffin presented his conclusions as a series of talks called The Reith
Lectures 2009, which you can hear free on the internet. The current global
crisis was not caused by subprime mortgage defaults, bubble economies, or
excessive pay for bankers, he said. It was caused by the disappearance of
morality.
But it can be revived, he said. The world has to engage in a debate "that
engages more directly with moral and even spiritual questions", and allow that
to lead human society to "moral and civic renewal".
I saw the pirate DVD collectors at the bar a few nights later. "Why aren’t you
at home watching your rip-off DVDs?" I asked. Their sad reply: "Someone stole
our TV."
I realized it would be immoral to laugh at their misfortune. But I couldn’t
help it. That was the second best bit of news I had heard that week. Justice
may be dead, but there IS a God, and He has neat timing and the wildest sense
of irony.
Demise of common sense
London Times Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend Common Sense, who has been
with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth
records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as
having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the
rain; why the early bird gets the worm; life isn't always fair; and maybe it
was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than
you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing
regulations were set in place. Reports of a six year old boy charged with
sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for
using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher
fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that
they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It
declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to
administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents
when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as places of worship became businesses; and
criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a
beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and
the burglar could sue you for
assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize
that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was
promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife,
Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.
He is survived by his four stepbrothers; I know My Rights, I Want It Now;
Someone Else Is To Blame; and I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
If you remember him, be proud that you are one of the few who do.
