In the 80s, one of the first reality shows I watched was called "Anything for Money". While it was tame by today's standards, it was pretty much shocking to see what people would do for money (an image that was firmly etched in my impressionable little mind then was one of a guy who ate worms...).
Sometimes I wonder what my own ethical limits might be. I consider myself lucky because I'd never knowingly enrol myself in such a situation (no TV game shows for me thank you), but what about those subtle life dilemmas that seem so clear when you're thinking about it hypothetically?
A good friend, who is quite the veteran in the IT industry, recently told me that he'd never go to work for Microsoft. A colleague once told me she'd never work for a tobacco company. An ex-coursemate, a staunch environmentalist, once questioned how I could consider working for an oil and gas company. I've questioned friends on how they can, in good conscience, budget in money for dubious "unknown expenses" in tender bids. And I've wondered about how easy it is to participate in riba.
Of course, every life decision can be rationalised as far as we want to rationalise it. Sometimes we want to do something so much, we ignore the lines we once drew for ourselves. We argue necessity, progress, we find reasons and justifications from sources we'd never refer to otherwise. When enough people nod at our justification, when the list of reasons stretch for miles, we take that step forward (or backward, depending on how we see it).
The stronger among us see the lines in every fork in the road, and with open eyes, make decisions along the principles they've adopted. But that takes knowing oneself and knowing what one can live with.
When I was younger, I used to think that it depends on one's intention and what you use the money for. But I realised that the journey is just as important as the destination - just how sure are we that after a journey without principles, that the destination will still be as pure as we intended it to be?
Sidenote:
One should ask the big fish club how slippery the slope was for them, where/when/how it all started, and whether they realised how far they've gone...
Related:
On diamonds, love and the price of principles (thanks Zarina for the pointer)
by now people should know the saying 'money is the root of all evil' is wrong. some say it should be 'the love of money is the root of all evil'. i believe that too... until few years back i started to think of course everyone loves money. hey, i do... and you do too right? so what we should say is 'the greed for money is the root of all evil'. agree?
i mean like corruption... why do they do it? greed for money, what else. and like eating live worms... why? greed for money. (though this is not something 'evil').
money... you can't live without it. yet when you live with it, not only it brings happiness but it brings sadness too.
Posted by: lucia at 2004年02月15日 23:44fortunately, Allah swt understands our desire towards having lots of money.
I remember hearing something in a ceramah that God did ask us to seek as much wealth as possible [economic wealth] provided if we fulfill those two guidelines:
- nawaitu [all flows towards the path of God, let it be any good cause for ourselves, society etc]
- the halal way [avoiding riba and so forth]
both must be concurrent, even good nawaitu does not mean we can overlook the halal rule.
the best example of wealth seeking sahabat is Abdul Rahman Bin Auf, probably one of the most richest man in islamic history.
i notice amongst the sahabat, no matter what way we choose to be in God's path [let it be as a protector (abu bakar), warrior (khalid), administrator (omar), zuhud (othman)], as long as we fulfill those to characteristics, everything will fall into place.
insya allah, we will all find our fulfilling purpose in this life, regardless if its personal or for the community as a whole.
Posted by: linie at 2004年02月16日 05:50Lucia wrote
"money... you can't live without it. yet when you live with it, not only it brings happiness but it brings sadness too."
To be honest with you Lucia none of my poor friends are truly happy.I've got one or two of them who have suicidal tendencies.On the other hand I've got some really rich buddies, the type you see driving a two door Mercedes CLK500 to Bangsar. They don't seem sad to me. Heck if you ask me, they are having a ball of a time!!
My chinese friend once remarked "Poor also got problem, rich also got problem. Might as well be rich and have problems at least at the end of the dsy you are rich." I think this guy has got a point.
Posted by: sudo_nim at 2004年02月16日 16:43All you nits should just count your blessings instead. Money is not the root of all evil. Individual weaknesses are. To err is human. Greed is a common flaw in humans. But that's OK coz we're not born to be saints. Be thankful that you have your health. Be grateful you have your senses. Imagine living with the gift of sight, smell and hearing. I don't need a mercedes SL500 AMG Convertible to feel good about myself. I can walk. But it would be nice.
Posted by: ampangboy at 2004年02月17日 06:49sudonim wrote: "To be honest with you Lucia none of my poor friends are truly happy.I've got one or two of them who have suicidal tendencies.On the other hand I've got some really rich buddies, the type you see driving a two door Mercedes CLK500 to Bangsar. They don't seem sad to me. Heck if you ask me, they are having a ball of a time!!"
IMHO nowdays u do need money, but u dont need money to be happy. The most important thing is to realize that being content for what we had and in the same time always striving to achieve better than what we had. As linie rightly said, our intention is paramount than than our desire to accumulate excessive wealth. It is not a good thing for u to have billions, snazzy cars, excessively large bungalow with that hip address, while ur relatives,friends,neighbours,colleagues,countrymen are like the malay proverbs say 'kais pagi,makan pagi,kais petang makan petang'. Too much emphasis is given on accumulating personal wealth,not on cummulative wealth for all.
Anyway, I like to post a question for all of us to ponder, If we gain our wealth, By all means necessary(cheating,bribing,cutting corners etc), how confortable r u with that wealth? How long you can maintain that wealth (what goes around,comes around)and how can u live with yourself knowing what u did to gain those wealth. I know i can't.
You don't need money to be happy. But having money sure beats having no money!! As to how you get it, it's up to you. You're the one who have to live with the consequences.
Posted by: khaliur at 2004年02月17日 13:16Shog76
"IMHO nowdays u do need money, but u dont need money to be happy."
Are you sure? What about someone who doesnt have an arm or a leg. If he/she had money, they could get prostetic limbs put on. I don't think those blind people at Masjid Jamik playing their accordians hoping for to get a few bucks from people walking by will agree with you.
"The most important thing is to realize that being content for what we had and in the same time always striving to achieve better than what we had."
Shog76 wrote
You mean brainwashing ourselves to believe that despite driving a junk and not being able to do a lot of things due to a lack of vitamin M, we are supposed to be happy?
Shog76
"As linie rightly said, our intention is paramount than than our desire to accumulate excessive wealth. It is not a good thing for u to have billions, snazzy cars, excessively large bungalow with that hip address, while ur relatives,friends,neighbours,colleagues,countrymen are like the malay proverbs say 'kais pagi,makan pagi,kais petang makan petang'."
You do realise that not all/most rich people have made their money through illegal means right? There is no wrong in working hard and wanting more in life rather then living the life close to the pverty line.
Shog76 wrote
" Anyway, I like to post a question for all of us to ponder, If we gain our wealth, By all means necessary(cheating,bribing,cutting corners etc), how confortable r u with that wealth? How long you can maintain that wealth (what goes around,comes around)and how can u live with yourself knowing what u did to gain those wealth. I know i can't."
I don't any of the readers here have been advocating amassing wealth via illegal menas. What about Bill Gates,Donald Trump,Chiang Kai shek, Lim Goh Tong...etc,etc? Why should they feel guilty for being rich?
Don't delude yourself. Money isn't everything but having no money as well sucks. My one wish in my life is to be RICH!!! HA HA HA HA HA!!!
nothing wrong with making as much money as one is able too... but keeping all that money to oneself is not so right...
Posted by: inbam at 2004年02月18日 20:15For a family man, by the end of the day, 3 basic things needs to be met, 1) Food on the table, 2) Cloths on their body (the family) 3) a roof over their heads.
Without money, one may steal;
too much money, one may not sit still!
Inbam wrote
"nothing wrong with making as much money as one is able too... but keeping all that money to oneself is not so right..."
Why is that?
Uncle Han wrote
"Without money, one may steal;
too much money, one may not sit still!"
HA HA!! Good one but I'm surprised this is coming from a Chinese, chinese people being very enterprising and business minded.
well sudo_nim, to be fair maybe... there are so many people out there who're not so fortunate... and its not wrong to share if we have more. if one has the means to make a lot of money... then they should because its true that money makes more money... but they can't take it with em to the grave. sharing it with the needy is commendable. self-centredness is not praiseworthy...
:-)
Posted by: inbam at 2004年02月20日 17:27