Let me start off by saying that I would like to have a fairly calm, rational debate about this. I do not want people flaming each other, and I do not want this approached from a Religious viewpoint. If you would like to discuss it in a religious vein, please start another thread and do it there. If this thread unravels and simply becomes a bunch of people ranting and raving, I will ask Caedes and/or Piner to EG it immediately.
So the question is… Where's the Moral Line? What is societally acceptable behavior, and what comments are okay to make? Is it really okay to make certain types of comments only behind closed doors among like-minded people?
This question came up in my mind because a friend told me today that Kenneth Lay (of Enron fame) had a heart attack and died and my immediate response was "Good for him! I wonder if his life insurance policy goes to the Enron Employees Pension Fund?". Now, while it was funny to me, and the person that I said it to (and someone else I repeated it to later… who then ended up on the receiving side of a rant poor boy), it was certainly meanspirited, and maybe I'm a horrible person? My reaction comes from what I know of the man, how he ran his company and how he damaged both the country and thousands of employees who deserved to be treated much better. We're still stuck in this "the rich are gettin richer and the poor are gettin poorer" and the rich are gettin away w/murder mode of society atm (yes Phil, fascist state… some of us HAVE noticed).
Similarly (I know I'm going to get HAMMERED for this), I am no fan of Ronald Reagan, his Reagonomics (if trickle-down economics led to the Great Depression the 1st time around, what really made any of the bright people agree that it would have a diff result this time?) and his breaking of the Air Traffic Controllers strike. Thus, when he died, and there was all the foofarah and ceremony, (after my sister called to celebrate… ok… I guess she's a mean and horrible person too?) my primary reaction to his death was "OMG! They cancelled JEOPARDY! so we could watch some dead guy lie around? WTFrig!"
I have a certain type of "actions have consequences" mindset, and I can sometimes be quite unsympathetic towards people who bring things on themselves. So where's the Moral Line? Where does society benefit by having someone like me call a spade a spade in my eyes, where does it benefit by taking the time to consider all sides and other possible redeeming qualities, and when does that just become a good idea gone bad?
(While this is the topic currently under discussion, as we debate, I would simply ADORE having people pose other situations and questions about where the moral line is for those)
So the question is… Where's the Moral Line? What is societally acceptable behavior, and what comments are okay to make? Is it really okay to make certain types of comments only behind closed doors among like-minded people?
This question came up in my mind because a friend told me today that Kenneth Lay (of Enron fame) had a heart attack and died and my immediate response was "Good for him! I wonder if his life insurance policy goes to the Enron Employees Pension Fund?". Now, while it was funny to me, and the person that I said it to (and someone else I repeated it to later… who then ended up on the receiving side of a rant poor boy), it was certainly meanspirited, and maybe I'm a horrible person? My reaction comes from what I know of the man, how he ran his company and how he damaged both the country and thousands of employees who deserved to be treated much better. We're still stuck in this "the rich are gettin richer and the poor are gettin poorer" and the rich are gettin away w/murder mode of society atm (yes Phil, fascist state… some of us HAVE noticed).
Similarly (I know I'm going to get HAMMERED for this), I am no fan of Ronald Reagan, his Reagonomics (if trickle-down economics led to the Great Depression the 1st time around, what really made any of the bright people agree that it would have a diff result this time?) and his breaking of the Air Traffic Controllers strike. Thus, when he died, and there was all the foofarah and ceremony, (after my sister called to celebrate… ok… I guess she's a mean and horrible person too?) my primary reaction to his death was "OMG! They cancelled JEOPARDY! so we could watch some dead guy lie around? WTFrig!"
I have a certain type of "actions have consequences" mindset, and I can sometimes be quite unsympathetic towards people who bring things on themselves. So where's the Moral Line? Where does society benefit by having someone like me call a spade a spade in my eyes, where does it benefit by taking the time to consider all sides and other possible redeeming qualities, and when does that just become a good idea gone bad?
(While this is the topic currently under discussion, as we debate, I would simply ADORE having people pose other situations and questions about where the moral line is for those)