FEBRUARY - MARCH 1996 / EmnY 17 Sch ten : Sh $17 te Tu Uetinre A Reflection on Ethics Cu ts BY JEREMY STANTON etheics (eth'iks) n.pl. 1. [with sing. v.] the study of standards of con- duct and moral judgment 2. the system of morals of a particular person, religion, group, etc. -Webster's New World Dictionary "You should let go of even the most profound insight or the most wholesome teaching." -Buddha Ethics? I'll give you ethics. There are only two things you should know about ethics. One: Figure out what yours are. Do yourself a favour and cut through the b.s to see what you're really about. By b.s. | mean deluding yourself with moral principles that you think you should have, just because you're mom is Catholic or you have long hair or you live near some trendy street or whatever. Forget that. “Know Thyself" is what it says in the Bible. Two: Once you've figured out what your principles are, come to terms with the fact that eventually they'll work against you, and then drop them. That's right - drop them. Morals, ethics, principles, whatever you want to call them, are a matter of opinion. There isn't any “right” - what doesn't bend, breaks, and what you have adopted as your defining rules of conduct will start constricting you like last year's pants. If you like your life to be a never-ending struggle because it gets people to pity you and buy into your crap, then fine - hang onto your ethics until they become an anchor. But if you want to get anywhere, you know, really get anywhere, like breaking out of your meticulously constructed "reality" to grow and expand as a human being, then keep asking yourself this: Has my groove become a rut? Is my castle becoming a prison? Like it says in the Tao: "Human ne neces stud ent + e 7 & -lawS to re tain beings are soft and supple when alive, stiff and straight when dead... e chou la its Y ensuce Aa Therefore, it is said: The rigid person is a disciple of death; the soft, supple, oe “4 ed “eA fuuds to eu€ Cre and delicate are lovers of life... A tree that is inflexible will snap." aq secve ‘tion etween Same story in the Gita: "Your resolve is futile if a sense of individuality makes you think, "I shall not fight" - nature will compel you to. You are bound by your own action, intrinsic to your being; even against your will you must do what delusion now makes you refuse.” One day you're going to have to do something that goes completely against your moral principles. You can dance, or you can snap. "What?!!" you say, "This sounds like an argument for absolute barbarism!" Well do you think you're civilized? What did you have for breakfast? Where do you think it came from? This just in - whatever it was, it was recently alive, then killed so you could live by eating it (vegetarians are not excused from this cycle, sorry). How many slaves to North America do you think were involved in the manufacture of your clothing? Or your skateboard? Or your paint? I've got news for you - Civility is a bow tie at a cock fight. We're all . savages. : Beautiful, isn't it?