"I Get Paid Either Way"
The movie The Boondock Saints opens with a priest giving a sermon, in which he preaches about the evils perpetrated by criminals in society. In talking about their morally deleterious effects on society, he adds:
"There is another kind of evil which we must all fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."
I've had lots of conversations with close personal friends of mine in which they're complaining about their jobs. They range from public servants to the business world. Usually, my friend is questioning the decisions being made by those in command above them. Because I want to be helpful, I usually try to suggest some course of action they can take in order to start changing things. Almost invariably, the suggestions are rejected.
When I ask why they're unwilling to stand up and stir the pot, they all cite the same reason. The exact language varies, but in essence, they're saying the same thing. The five words that are the bane of the existence of every person who has a day job they hate:
"I get paid either way."
This is the hell of it: if you go up the chain of command in any organization or municipality, the person signing the paychecks has an incentive to keep things they way they are. When things are good, they don't want things to be changed, so a system forms, and stability becomes the ultimate aim of that system. Most people and most companies aren't going to give you any good reason or encouragement to change things. We wait, patiently, for some external validation to go changes things, or instructions on how to do it, but almost nobody who initiates change ever actually has either of these.
The problem with the priest's assertion is that "good" is a morally subjective term (the "saints" in the movie started killing criminals), and it's not useful because most people think of themselves as "good". But indifference can certainly be detrimental to the individual. It's a double-edged sword: it can be the product of satisfaction, but it can also indicate resignation and hopelessness.
It's a question that each of us can only answer for ourselves, but worth asking: What are you going to do in the face of a system that incentivizes good men to remain indifferent?
You might get paid either way, but money isn't everything.
"There is another kind of evil which we must all fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."
I've had lots of conversations with close personal friends of mine in which they're complaining about their jobs. They range from public servants to the business world. Usually, my friend is questioning the decisions being made by those in command above them. Because I want to be helpful, I usually try to suggest some course of action they can take in order to start changing things. Almost invariably, the suggestions are rejected.
When I ask why they're unwilling to stand up and stir the pot, they all cite the same reason. The exact language varies, but in essence, they're saying the same thing. The five words that are the bane of the existence of every person who has a day job they hate:
"I get paid either way."
This is the hell of it: if you go up the chain of command in any organization or municipality, the person signing the paychecks has an incentive to keep things they way they are. When things are good, they don't want things to be changed, so a system forms, and stability becomes the ultimate aim of that system. Most people and most companies aren't going to give you any good reason or encouragement to change things. We wait, patiently, for some external validation to go changes things, or instructions on how to do it, but almost nobody who initiates change ever actually has either of these.
The problem with the priest's assertion is that "good" is a morally subjective term (the "saints" in the movie started killing criminals), and it's not useful because most people think of themselves as "good". But indifference can certainly be detrimental to the individual. It's a double-edged sword: it can be the product of satisfaction, but it can also indicate resignation and hopelessness.
It's a question that each of us can only answer for ourselves, but worth asking: What are you going to do in the face of a system that incentivizes good men to remain indifferent?
You might get paid either way, but money isn't everything.