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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!bellcore!decvax!ittatc!dcdwest!sdcsvax!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!hplabs!qantel!ptsfa!gilbbs!mc68020
From: mc68020@gilbbs.UUCP (Tom Keller)
Newsgroups: net.women,net.singles
Subject: Re: Honesty (New Subject?)
Message-ID: <50@gilbbs.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 7-Mar-86 08:08:29 EST
Article-I.D.: gilbbs.50
Posted: Fri Mar  7 08:08:29 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 10-Mar-86 08:32:31 EST
References: <491@sdcc13.UUCP>
Organization: Gil's Place, Santa Rosa CA
Lines: 45
Keywords: question
Xref: watmath net.women:9628 net.singles:10813
Summary: honesty vs loyalty...a dilemma?

In article <491@sdcc13.UUCP>, kemasa@sdcc13.UUCP (kemasa) writes:
> Dear netusers,
> 
>      I have a question for you,  and  also  a  new  subject.   If
> someone  commits  a crime at what point do you turn them in or do
> you?  Meaning if they are a friend, just someone you  know,  etc.
> and  based on what they did hurt someone, stole money (0-100,100-
> 1000,1k-10k,etc), etc.  I would prefer  not  to  have  to  report
> someone,  hoping that the person would never do such a thing, but
> I doubt that will ever happen.

   I believe that there is a certain dilemma here, between what is wholly
ethical, and what is considered loyalty.


   To state the trivial (superficially) case, if a friend jay walks, or
runs a stop in their car, do you report them?  Most probably not (among 
other reasons, you wouldn't have many friends if you did).

   Do you report a person who smokes a little marijuana now and then?
I should think not, yet this *IS* a violation of the law.

   Do you report theft, fraud, violent crimes or property damage?  I would have
to think yes.  Here we are dealing with crimes that have victims (aside from
the perpetrator...certainly the heroin addict is a victim of his/her crime)
who have been injured in some way.  In the case of insurance fraud, not only
are the shareholders in the insurance company deprived of their (legally
defined) right to their profit, but all insranc consumers, and ultimately
all consumers are injured through higher premiums, and the resulting increase
in the costs of services and goods which naturally follows.


   Being s snitch is no fun.  Informing the authorities of the commission of
a serious crime is not being a snitch.

-- 

====================================

Disclaimer:  I hereby disclaim any and all responsibility for disclaimers.

tom keller
{ihnp4, dual}!ptsfa!gilbbs!mc68020

(* we may not be big, but we're small! *)