“If someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” (Maya Angelou)
One sign of integrity is what you choose to do when no one is observing you. Still other signs of integrity are how you behave in times of crisis; what you do when confronted with tough, competing choices; or your action when your action does not serve your best interests.
Some classical lapses of integrity can manifest themselves in lying, cheating, misrepresentation, stealing—you get the idea. They embody moral turpitude or corruption. They demonstrate a radical departure from a benchmark of acceptable, responsible behavior. To the list above, I would add harassment, bullying, and discrimination.
In ethical terms these acts involve instances when people depart from normative behavior—In other words, right versus wrong. Some of these ethical departures may even involve breaking the law.
There are other examples of violations of ethical standards that are not so evident. They may be betrayal of trust or confidentiality. They may also include failure to keep your word, breaches of business etiquette, malfeasance in office, or even plagiarism in some cases.
These infractions are often situational in nature and therefore not as cut and dry as a violation of normative ethics. But make no mistake—even though these ethical dalliances may be as slippery as they are malleable, they are still indicative of serious character flaws and a lack of integrity.
That brings me to the heart of this rant.
Unfortunately, we live in an age of alternative truths and an environment where anything goes—if you can get away with it. You’ve no doubt heard that a fish rots from the head down. Well, I’m hereby declaring that something stinketh in D.C.; in far too many legislatures, in courtrooms, and boardrooms–nationwide.
Corruption is the default setting, and dishonesty, avarice, deception and fraud are the order of the day. As for morality, honor, dedication, a sense of fair play and duty—well—they are mere words that have become devalued and all but extinct, due to lack of application.
We have it on record from the former golfer-in-chief that paying your bills and paying your fair share of taxes are for suckers. And can you believe it? He also had the almighty gall to characterize the late Sen. John McCain and others who honorably served and died in service to this country as suckers as well.
Jaundiced views and practices like that are not only corrosive, but they also choke the life out of civil society, and dare I say it–democracy.
It is well past time we reclaim integrity and ethical behavior as the norm rather than an exception.
Now that I’ve got all that out of my system, let me end by quoting the immortal words of that sage and philosopher, Forrest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.” WDJ
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