Every once in a while I have a conversation with someone at the dojo that reminds me of just how easy it is to lose track of what is, and what is not, ethical common sense ("ECS") if you like that term (which I do, plus the abbreviation will make this easier to get through).
The discussion centered around the current presidential politics and campaigns, and how the on-going financial crisis may impact the voting.
Sometimes it seems that the most revealing conversations that occur are due to a crisis that everyone is thinking about in one way or another. The stress surrounding that, regardless of how minimal, brings out things that aren't normally surfaced.
The financial crisis has lots of blame to go around. However, there are a few individuals who seem to have had more than their fair share of responsibility for the crisis and who also benefited with the largess of the federal government, or shareholders, or victims of their culpable behavior(s). (In other words they made a killing and cried all the way to the bank so don't expect them to willingly give it back.)
Without getting into who I may or may not vote for (since this election is so disgusting that I may sit it out and have some uni and sake instead) one of the candidates has knowingly (or maybe unknowingly but if so that's still his fault since he's in charge) hired as economic advisers two of the exact same "Guy's In Charge" that ran the semi-public mortgage corporations into the ground. These two "Guys In Charge" together took Golden Parachutes in excess of $100 Million and now are advising one of the presidential candidates on economics.
Hmmmm? Isn't that kinda like Al Capone being hired by the IRS to write new federal tax laws? (Remember that the G-Men finally got Capone for tax evasion in case it's been too long since American history in junior high.)
So Sensei, what's wrong with that if these two "Guys In Charge" are competent and can give some good advice? After all, this is a big picture we're dealing with here and he needs all the help he can get; besides, all that largess was in the past (yeah, about 2 years ago).
During the conversation I explained (or at least tried to before stopping myself as I was very hesitant to crack open the flood gates on the mat since I was the one who made the rule about no discussion of sex, religion or politics on the mat in the first place) the concept of guilt by association and, the idea of the "Guy In Charge" being responsible for anything his subordinates do (or did) regardless of whether or not the "Guy In Charge" was aware of it at the time, especially when he finally does become aware of it.
This is the same concept as the Captain of the ship being responsible for everything since he is supposed to have enough control of his men to stop issues before they develop. My son's in the US Navy so ask him if the Captain of his destroyer isn't responsible for anything that goes on with total accountability. If the "Guy In Charge" can't keep control, or at the very least stop the craziness and then mitigate the outcome(s) then quite simply, he shouldn't be Captain or in this case, President.
So Sensei, how does this relate to Aikido and life at the dojo?
Believe it or not, national level politics is exactly the same as running a dojo or managing your personal life. Expediency(ies) may sometimes be necessary to manage the national economy or a large dojo/martial arts organization in order to achieve a large and very worthy goal, but with that being said; one should NOT compromise their ECS whether those ethical rules of behavior(s) and personal association(s) are being applied in a dojo, with their friends and family or in politics. If that level of compromise is necessary then find another line of work or you'll find yourself starting to slide down that slippery slope and eventually unable to tell the difference between bending a rule one time for a worthy cause and bending/breaking them all the time because ALL reasons become a worthy cause.
The old saying that your grandmother (or at least mine) used on you growing up other than, "Sit up straight and hold your fork correctly", is "You are who you associate with." If you have a friend/Acquaintance that you don't HAVE to hang out with (e.g. you aren't required to be with them based on work/job requirements) and you find out that he is a child molester who did time, or he makes money selling crack, what do you do?
Do you continue your relationship? Do you invite him to all of your dinner parties at home? What will your friends and your spouse think about that when they find out? Will they think that you have given your tacit approval of his behavior by your continued and knowing association with that person by your being around them and by your bringing them into your associations with others?
Instead, what if he's a former executive who took (stole) $100 Million in largess and cratered the company by his poor management over a 10 or 15 year period (so you know that he was full aware of what he was doing) with the net result being a massive loss of jobs, shareholder losses and victims potentially numbering in the hundreds of thousands?
Ask yourself, "But wait. He took the money legally!"
OK! He was the "Guy in Charge" and he named his friends to the Board of Directors who then voted him his multi-million golden parachute even though they all could read the financial statements that spoke to the imminent demise of the company. It wasn't "illegal" (i.e. "criminal") but it sure as the heck wasn't ethical nor honest in it's deception and in his taking advantage of his executive position.
Now ask yourself; is this the kind of person that I would want my mother to invest her money with, want my daughter to date, want my son to grow up to be like, want my nephew to emulate, send my clients to, give MY money to? If not, then why in the world would you hire him to work on your political campaign (or let him into the dojo family if you're the Sensei) thereby making people wonder about your ECS or ethical compass? (There's that guilt by association again).
And then ask yourself, "Is there really a difference between an unethical executive and a crack dealer?"
If there is I can't see it. Illegal is illegal and immoral is immoral and unethical is unethical. If nothing else, the executive has even less excuse than the crack dealer because HE HAS MORE EDUCATION AND MORE OPPORTUNITY AND A FAMILY HISTORY OF SUCCESS AND AMBITION AND UPWARD SOCIAL MOBILITY. Maybe the crack dealer grew up with criminals as role models, knows nothing else and has kids to feed.
They're both guilty but the executive can't argue ignorance in the least.
"Damn. Sensei's hanging out with a guy who stole money/sold drugs/lies to beat people up/likes all the time/etc./etc. What does that mean to me as his student? Am I supposed to grow up to be an 85th Dan/Galactic Hanshi and hang out with marginal guys like him?"
You fill in your choice of illegal or immoral behaviors and actions and then you think about what your closest loved ones in your life would think about you after learning about the kind of person you like to associate with. After a while it becomes skitzoid ...... one person in public and a different person in provite with "our friends".
Most importantly to a Sensei, why would you allow a person like this on the mat to; (1) influence people with their discussions of illegal or unethical behaviors, (2) work with your wife/husband/child on the mat, (3) hurt someone (where does questionable illegal behavior cross the line into potential physical behavior issues because of lack of self-control), or lastly, (4) make other students think that you tacitly approve his behavior because your teach him, promote him up in grade and by doing so, hold him out as an exemplar?
Interesting question isn't it; the way a mild discussion of a political issue spills over into the dojo realm? It does because the principles of ethics are consistent. The only difference between the dojo and Washington, DC is the scale of the issues. The true measure of a man is how he (or she) continues to observe or not observe ECS in a larger realm that may be more severely nuanced, but at its' most basic core essence is nothing more than a study in ethics.
A Sensei' ultimate responsibility is to keep the mat safe. Students trust you to the point sometimes of being overly trusting. This trust is a very precious gift and a Sensei doesn't deserve it if he can't control himself long enough to be aware of who he becomes (or looks like to others) when he hangs out with ethically marginal people by conscious choice.
The scale has nothing to do with it. Ethics, your personal ethical compass and the difference between reputation and character has everything to do with it.
So I'll leave you with a question; if you hold yourself to high standards then how should you judge others who do not?
L.F. Wilkinson Sensei
Aikibudo Kancho
Aikibudokan, Houston, TX
October 2008
Comments