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Honesty doesn't pay

The Back Room

41 Posts 12 Posters 4 Views 1 Watching

P Paul Riley

Here I am, a generally honest person, I buy what music and software I want, I pay my bills (not always on time, but I pay them), I don't rip people off, I earn an honest (and considerably above average) wage and spend it as I please. And yet my car is falling apart and to get a new one I have to look at some serious refinancing. I'm not short of money, but I can't afford to just throw away an extra couple of hundred notes a month without giving something else up. And then I look around at people who are scrounging off the state and can afford to run two decent cars and a bigger house than I have, go out drinking 7 nights a week, etc, etc. And I have to figure that they're ripping someone off; I also have to figure that directly or indirectly that person is me. Most people nowadays seem to steal whatever is easy to steal (like music and software), I know of several people who just run up massive debts and declare bankrupcy every couple of years, others make a living out of insurance claims and yet more claim state benefits that they're not entitled to. And who pays for this? The companies they're ripping off? No. It's the honest consumer. We pay more for CDs and software because of piracy, we pay more for insurance to cover the payments, we certainly pay our taxes to cover benefit fraud, and we surely pay more charges at the bank to pay off other people's bad debts. :mad: So I can't help but wonder, why do I bother? I can't go to a car dealer and say "I have plenty of moral high ground, what kind of car can I have?". I sure don't sleep any better at night. I don't believe in God, so there's no big payoff coming in the afterlife. So why don't I go around and "play the game" much like everyone else does? Sure the world would be a better place if everyone led a moral life, but they don't and there's very little incentive for people to do so. I doubt I'm going to suddenly change, take copies of all my CDs and sell the originals, buy a scam satellite TV decoder card, start copying software, go looking around for ways to injure myself for money, claim the dole, etc. But I sure would appreciate it if someone would explain to me why I shouldn't? Paul And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death - Pink Floyd, Time
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brianwelsch

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#41

Paul Riley wrote: So why don't I go around and "play the game" much like everyone else does? I've thought about it too. Theft, adultery, lying (beyond "yes, I like that dress." ;) ), etc... At the end of day the day, though, I can't do it. Well, at least not anymore :-O . It's a matter of making my life happier. I try to do unto others as I would have them do to me, not as they actually do to me. It helps me sleep at night knowing I'm trying my best to not add to the confusion and chaos in this world. It's frustrating though to see others cave to their desires so quickly, especially when they are in situations which allow them to easily do the "right thing". BW "Gandalf. Yes. That is what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey. *I* am Gandalf the White." - Gandalf the White
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