Why Should I Be Moral?

¶ … Moral?

When considering the ever-changing world of global business, commerce, communications, media, travel and spirituality, the concept of morality has certainly been metamorphosed several times over in order to keep up with these shifting tides. However, even despite the globalized nature of life in the modern world, several regional differences regarding this topic continue to exist today. For many, it seems like countless new outlets for immorality have been created while the core of being moral remains as it has for centuries. With materialistic lifestyles being promoted throughout the global and greed running rampant (especially in highly developed nations), it certainly seems like there are many more justifications and rationalizations for those who choose to be immoral. Thus, several mechanisms for immorality have been created in such influential global fields like finance, real estate, banking, politics, international trade and corporate ethics. Even more personal aspects of life seem to be changing for the worse in recent years. Concepts like marriage, religion, community relations, education and childcare have all been tainted in one way or another during the current generation. It could be argued that many of the devastating problems that have struck the globe and its various regions and inhabitants have ultimately been born out of immorality. Therefore, with many immoral people in powerful positions and the essence of immorality destroying several coveted areas of life on Earth, the biggest reason I can think of to be moral is CHANGE. By being moral in my daily live, all I can hope to do is pass on this practice to others and hopefully incite some type of change in these rapidly deteriorating global circumstances.

The philosophical power structures created in various aspects of life have certainly increased the potential for immorality in the modern world. The pyramid-like nature of several meaningful areas of contemporary life have given immense amounts of power and influence to the few, while effectively enslaving the many. While the ultra-powerful are often responsible for little more than the delegation of various tasks to their limitless underlings, this "trickle-down" gratification pattern has birthed the increased potential for immorality and unethical behavior throughout the ranks of the human army. While every global citizen presumably wishes to successfully rise up the power pyramid, there is little room for ostracized idea of morality. For with the limitless sea of intertwined souls comprising the pyramid structure, those who forgo advancement for morality are often left behind or trampled on.

The power of immoral materialistic (and even sexual) temptations has recently seeped its ways into several previously sacred personal and spiritual aspects of life. The idea of "marriage for money" is a relatively new idea created in the age of materialism. While the concept and sanctity of marriage was initially designed to bond people together in a display of love and adoration, recent greed and personal immorality has brought people to disregard these noble origins and enter into marriage for profit. In most cases, we see women marrying much older men for the strict purposes of inheriting their fortunes or quickly divorcing them after the marriage is finalized. This type of moral temptation and immorality also showed itself in classrooms and religious institutions. Several stories have recently been made public regarding abusive teachers and priests. That is, individuals who are trusted with the task of caring for innocent and developing children. Yet immorality and its deviancy trump honor once again in our modern world. That is, ultimately, each individual is ever more likely to act in a way that will advance his or her status on the pyramid of material power and influence. And as has been illustrated, these modalities are always (with very few exceptions) highly immoral and unethical.

Thus with all of the aforementioned morality occurring in our world, a revolution is long overdue. A moral revolution. In my mind, the aforementioned immorality that is abundantly present in countless aspects of our society represents the greatest reason to be moral. Changing the current state of our world is absolutely essential if we would like to survive and prosper. I know that I have become increasingly hesitant about bringing a child into this world because I fear for its safety and well-being. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to have an education, which enlightened me about all of these immoral deeds. I was also fortunate enough to develop a strong sense of right and wrong through my spiritual beliefs and my personal education. That is, lucky for me, my parents were able to spend enough time with me (despite the fact that they both worked), that they were able to successfully instill some significant values in me at a very young age.