Comments on: The Rangel Tangle http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/2009/10/12/the-rangel-tangle/ A weekly digest of worldwide ethics news Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:15:59 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Let’s fill in the swamp « Alien Drums http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/2009/10/12/the-rangel-tangle/comment-page-1/#comment-1535 Let’s fill in the swamp « Alien Drums Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:49:40 +0000 http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/?p=10354#comment-1535 [...] 13, 2009 Rushworth Kidder had a good piece yesterday on congressional ethics. He hearkened back to Nancy Pelosi’s 2006 commitment to [...] [...] 13, 2009 Rushworth Kidder had a good piece yesterday on congressional ethics. He hearkened back to Nancy Pelosi’s 2006 commitment to [...]

]]> By: Bill Fitzsimmons http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/2009/10/12/the-rangel-tangle/comment-page-1/#comment-1525 Bill Fitzsimmons Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:31:09 +0000 http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/?p=10354#comment-1525 It is hard to maintain morality and ethics when you are powerful Let's face it. No one gets elected initially if they are known to be sleazy or unethical. But once you become part of the process, the process starts to gradually wear you down. This is human nature. Some resist longer than others, but eventually everyone wears down and compromise is inevitable. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, incremental change (which features minimal change) is often more substantive over time than drastic change (which encounters much resistance). This concept is similar to compound interest in the financial sphere. We are all human beings subject to the same human frailties. Who am I (or you ) to say that I would adhere to the same moral and ethical standards that I adhere to now, if I were granted access to the powerful. Would I even know my principles were compromised or would I rationalize that they were not. When there is no temptation, it is easy to say no. When there is temptation, it is easy to rationalize. It is hard to maintain morality and ethics when you are powerful Let’s face it. No one gets elected initially if they are known to be sleazy or unethical. But once you become part of the process, the process starts to gradually wear you down. This is human nature. Some resist longer than others, but eventually everyone wears down and compromise is inevitable. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, incremental change (which features minimal change) is often more substantive over time than drastic change (which encounters much resistance). This concept is similar to compound interest in the financial sphere.

We are all human beings subject to the same human frailties. Who am I (or you ) to say that I would adhere to the same moral and ethical standards that I adhere to now, if I were granted access to the powerful. Would I even know my principles were compromised or would I rationalize that they were not. When there is no temptation, it is easy to say no. When there is temptation, it is easy to rationalize.

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