[MD] The Moral Landscape

[Andre Broersen]

  Ian to Craig and Horse:

Apart from hoping people recognize "harm" when they (don't) see it, this is
simply the golden rule "do as you would be done by" ... core to the origins
of many (most) moral traditions.

Andre:
Yes, and very Western as well and to be cynical about it, this is the motivational feeding stuff
of any tough business person in our competitive world. (I'll knife your back and you'll knife
mine), and many not so tough people I might add.

I was laid off once because the company I worked for went into receivership ('taken over' by the bank).
The way the boss explained it (in an apologetic way):'We've been kicked in the ass, so we'll have to kick
back'. I understood completely but I am still a bit vague as to why I was kicked as well( and a few
others I might add).

I like the 'Eastern' 'enlightened' variant a bit better which Steve Hagen gives in his
"Buddhism, plain and simple': 'Do not do unto others what you would not have done unto you'.(p 90)

It is passive and seems more positive than the moralistic 'do as you would be done by' which implies
you should do something or move into action or something...but what?