Sometimes, it seems to me that most people in our society have no concept of ethics whatsoever. Ethics and responsibility have been replaced by legalism. People want all sorts of laws to dictate the behavior of other people, but they seem to think they're completely free to do whatever they want to do that isn't expressly forbidden by law. Worse yet, they'll go one step further and swear to the righteousness of everything they can do without getting caught.
Sometimes, it seems to me that the worst slaves to this sort of legalism are peace officers, and I don't understand why. I do background investigations on peace officers and applicants for peace officer positions. Most are wonderful people, but a good number are not. I recall one police officer who has been arrested for drunk driving 4 times since 1995 - and convicted only once. The last time, he staggered away from his wrecked truck on the side of the road and didn't contact the police to report the accident until a day and a half later, when he was sober. Another told me how he'd been able to make a profit from filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceeding. These people consider themselves to be law-abiding because they know how to avoid getting caught, and they're very self-righteous about their behavior. I come across one incident after another like this, and most seem to involve some sort of clever, wheeler-dealer twisting of the truth. Their battle cry seems to be, "Well, it's legal, isn't it?" It drives me crazy, although I do admit that I get a certain pleasure out of whittling them down to size.
On the other hand, I have to say that the majority of applicants and officers I encounter are bright, idealistic, good people. But why is it that so many of us have become such slaves to the law, where principle doesn't seem to matter any more?
-Joe Offer-