Taken from:
Ethical Dilemmas -- Brief Scenarios
1. The sheriff in a southern town is guarding the courthouse against a mob that is about to storm it by force, in order to capture a black prisoner and lynch him even before his trial. If the mob is frustrated, many people may be killed in the ensuing riot. Should the sheriff deliver the prisoner to the mob?
I guess my answer would be, what year is it? If it was today, I'd say no, the Sheriff should hold a conference with the mob to discuss the judicial process and why it is important even with emotions running high to give due process a chance. If it doesn't work and the riot happens, you could never say you gave up your integrity to the citizens, even the accused.
2. Should the wealthier members of society be forced to pay through taxation, for the poorer members? If so, how much?
I say flat tax for everyone, but that is just not possible. No they shouldn't have to pay for the poorer members of society, but they should contribute a greater portion to a greater cause then wealth for the greater good. I might be a Deist, but I don't think wealth is something you take along with you to Heaven if there really was one. What in the hell would you buy? So don't worry about it if someone sucks all your wealth away. If your living life in luxury while others are suffering, then something is wrong in the world that you as an individual have within your means to do something about.
3. A man has been sentenced to prison for armed robbery, and admits guilt for the deed. "But", he argues,"I'll never do anything of the kind again. I'm not insane or a danger to society. I would be happier out of jail than in. My wife depends on me for support and she and the children would be far happier if I were able to be the family breadwinner again. As to the influence on others, almost no one would ever know about it; you can keep the matter out of the newspapers and no one except you will ever know that the crime was committed. Therefore, you should release me" Assuming he is correct, what would you do?
Send him to prison as a reminder of the consequences of what will happen if he does it again. If he was indeed honest about his repentance, we won't have to worry about seeing him incarcerated ever again, and he will have payed his fairly imposed sentence and debt to society no matter how heavy or light it may be.
4. A rich man and a poor man commit the same type of crime. The rich man is fined $10,000 while the poor man is sent to jail for one year. Is this fair?
Fukk no!! Fine the poor guy, I guarantee that will hurt him more then the jail time. Send the rich guy to prison, he needs a reality check of what pissed off, convinced they are oppressed, society rejects are actually like.
5. You are on a country road and see two neighbouring farm houses on fire. One is yours and the other belongs to a new couple who just moved in. Your wife and child are at home as are your neighbours. You can only save one house. Which one do you save?
Uhm, DUH, to hell with the new neighbors, dumb question.
6. You run an orphanage and have had a hard time making ends meet. A car dealership offers you a new van worth $15,000 for free if you will falsely report to the government that the dealership donated a van worth $30,000. You really need the van and it will give you an opportunity to make the children happy. Do you agree to take the van?
Depends if my orphanage was taxed by the IRS or doesn't pay taxes. If the money trail makes me a tax cheat, then, no, not worth it, no matter how tempting, but if taxes are nothing I worry about, then yeah, I'll help the dealer out, it's his damn IRS audit.
7. You are shopping and notice a woman stuffing a pair of stockings into her purse. Do you report her?
Depends if I am feeling like being a ***** or not.... no seriously, that is my answer.
8. You are waiting with a few other people to board a bus. The bus pulls up and before you can board the driver gets out and goes into the convenience store to get a coffee. You are the last to get on the bus. Do you pay your fare? 9. You discover Bill Gate's wallet lying on the street. It contains $1000.00 Do you send it back to him?
Man, if I found your wallet, and it had $5 in it, I'm keeping the cash and tossing it in the trash. Yeah, ask about Bill again..
10. It is 3 a.m. and you are late getting home. As you approach the intersection you notice that no one is around. Do you drive through the red light?
No, I chill for a while, turn on the CD player and listen to some ABBA, and be happy I'm on my way home.
11. In Dostoyevsky's novel Crime and Punishment the main character plots and carries out the murder of an old woman who has a considerable amount of money in her apartment. After killing her, he steals the money. He argues that 1) she is a malicious old woman, petty, cantankerous and scheming, useless to herself and to society (which happens to be true), and her life causes no happiness to herself or to others; and 2) her money if found after her death would only fall into the hands of chisellers anyway. Whereas he would use it for his education. Is this action justified?
No, murder is murder.
12. As a nurse, you are the last person to see Mr. Doe before he dies in hospital. You believe that he has become mentally incompetent in the last few hours and in that time he has rewritten his will. In the new will he viciously attacks each member of his adopted family and reveals that he actually was born a woman. He then cuts every family member out of the will leaving his fortune to a Psychic Chatline . Mr. Jones asks you to make sure that the new will gets to his lawyer. Knowing that the document will most likely be thrown out of court but not before the damage to Mr. Doe's family is done, do you carry out Mr. Doe's last request?
Hell yeah!! I always get a smirk on my face when I can cause a bit of anarchy and get away with it.
13. Would it be justifiable to whip pigs to death if more succulent pork resulted from this process, giving the consumers of pork more pleasure?
Works for me.
14. Why punish the theft of $1000 more than the theft of $100?
Good question. I have no answer for this except that higher valued items deserve a higher form of punishment.
15. Why punish attempted murder less than murder?
Because nobody died, the question shouldn't be why punish them less, but rather HOW MUCH.
16. You are on a boat and nearby are two large rocks filled with persons waiting to be rescued; there are five people on one rock and four on the other. Assume that you cannot rescue both groups and that you are the only one able to rescue either group. Which group do you rescue?
The group that is younger, they have more in life to give and offer and see.
17. You can only rescue one of each of the following, which do you save?a) A child or an adult
B) A stranger or your dog
c) Hitler or lassie
d) Your spouse or a Nobel Laureate
e) A dog or a weasel
f) Your entire family or the entire canine species
g) A bottle with the cure for cancer or your brother
h) A bottle with the cure for cancer or your brother who just gave you one of his kidneys
Child, stranger,Hitler, then I would personally shoot him, My wife, dog, my family, my brother, my brother again.
18. Are the following acceptable grounds for a person to end the life of a non-human animal? a) Its noise bothers you at night.
B) The wolf is killing your sheep.
c) Its meat makes a tasty dish.
d) You enjoy seeing it squirm.
e) The gophers are destroying your vegetable garden.
f) You just don't like snakes
g) The condor (an endangered species) keeps killing your prized carrier pigeons.
h)I enjoy hunting.
A-H, ALL YES !!
19. Are any of the following situations objectionable?a) Raising and killing rabbits for food.
B) Raising and killing rabbits for fur.
c) Clubbing baby seals over the head for fur.
d) Raising chickens under crowded conditions on wire netting.
e) Slitting open the bodies of cattle in slaughterhouses before they are unconscious.
f) Using spontaneously aborted fetal tissue for treating Parkinson's disease victims.
g) Using intentionally aborted fetal tissue for purposes of art.
h) A highly rated television show which depicts the actual torture of a convicted criminal.
i) A highly rated television show which depicts the actual torture of a poor homeless orphan.
j) Torturing a person (who will die from the injuries) as the only means to find out where they have hidden a nuclear bomb.
No,no,yes,no,no,no,yes,no,yes
20. Pick any one of the above 19 questions and try to consider why someone might answer it differently than you. Can you offer reasons for their views? Are any of these reasons persuasive?
I'll say question 12. I'm a bit evil and I know it.
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