We were a couple of fellows, known to be auspiciously in accord.
Except when we decided not to agree on something. Anything, really.
We seemed to have a knack for the need of an argument, now and then.
So we had one, some seven years ago.
We were at a bar. The bar was empty, or so we decided to brand it. Consequently, we threw ourselves into an argument, that soon evolved into a disagreement, finally evacuating the bar of the persons unknown, unnoticed, and thereby ignored by the Self-appointed Debonairs of the Evening So Far.
Of course we scared them off. In no time at all.
The subject at this time, was ‘Morals and Ethics’.
Well, not the subject itself, just the meaning of the terms.
Two of us challenged the third, who claimed that both words meant the same thing. Linguistically, we agreed, but since the Romans had stolen almost everything the Greek had made great, and then mistreated or misinterpreted it, we graciously agreed to disagree with the core of His Minority’s Declaration of Dependence.
Consequently, The Knight Journalist had to battle both The Lesser Spotted Noël and The Incoherent Harry Monster over the matter at hand.
The matter being, that both Society and Mankind needed a discernible difference between the twain - ‘Morals’ and ‘Ethics’. Of course, The Knight Journalist never left his original point of entry. The two words were of the same origin, and could not at the point of definition be separated.
We, naturally elaborated upon the differences between Personal and Social beliefs, thus naming ‘Morals’ as the former, and ‘Ethics’ the latter. Or, at least a system of rules suggested to be a Social standard.
Well, time went. At a crucial moment, one of us introduced a third definition - Values - into the mix. A bit too late, I’m afraid. It met no approval from The Knight. Nor from the Barrister-at-the-Bar.
He promptly showed us the door, sending us off with the ultimate summation:
- Well, fellas, you’ve just shown that Values can be the worst companion to bring to town.
We gasped a bit from the chock of the cold air outside, but pricked up our ears.
- You see, by judging your friend by your personal standards, you’ve only proved that Majority Unethically can win over even the best defended Morals. And that, my loudmouthed friends, is how Politics defeats Stature every time. Right or Wrong!
… and we thought he wasn’t listening.