Ethical Living: How it Works for Some People
by Warren McLaren, Sydney 
on 10.12.06
"Ethics unsettle the existing certainties that you have," he says. "Be careful when you take the stopper out of this bottle because you can't do that and expect nothing to change. Once the genie's out change is inevitable." So observes Dr Simon Longstaff, head of Sydney's St James Ethics Centre. He was commenting in a newspaper article on people living ethically. He says those he feels most sorry for are people whose work lives conflict with their personal ethics. "One of the saddest things is seeing a person whose life is at odds with what they think or believe is right or good." The article profiles a small collection of people who have consciously chosen a path in life that feels more ethical than that of mainstream society. The breadth spans a former senior BP executive, through to a researcher than made her decision, at age 15, to never own a car. Quoting Socrates, Longstaff says the unexamined life is not worth living. 25 suggestions for ethical living are provided at the end of the article. And although differing in their viewpoints, all the interviewees had a primary ethical concern with regard to the environment in offsetting their carbon emissions. ::Sydney Morning Herald. See also the Moral Shopping Basket and review of the book: 'To Be Of Use'.
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It's true, living in such a way as to go against your own ethics literally tears your intellect apart.
The industrial revolution was supposed to bring us a life of leisure, and let modern society flourish with plenty of free time to create art and use our intellects for probing deeply into the issues troubling our cultures. But instead, our modern soctieties went down the dark and torturous path of addiction and consumption.
But we have a choice! We can rid ourselves of the addictions and refocus our attentions on learning what it is that we honestly need and love in life. In a land of abundence, what on earth are we still striving for? Our lives can be so much better than this! But we have to take that first step off the endlessly rotating airport luggage belt of consumer culture, and wander over to the little patch of wildspace behind the big box store to stop and taste the wood sorrel while we contemplate... "How do I want to live my life?"
Thanks for that reminder, Turil. I really enjoy your contributions.