Let law be your foundation, ethics your compass, and morality your guiding star.
But what if the law—your foundation— contradicts morality—your guiding star, can an act be legal but immoral?
My answer is "of course". Imagine you're sharing cookies with your friends! 🍪🍪🍪 The rule (that's like the law) says everyone gets one cookie. But what if your friend already has a HUGE candy bar and wants your cookie too, while someone have nothing? Giving everyone else cookie is legal because it follows the rule. But is it moral or fair? 🤔 Maybe it's better to give the cookie to someone who doesn't have any treats yet! So, something can be legal but not always the nicest or fairest thing to do.
That was just an example, I have my own "legality vs. morality" situation, but, like, technically, I haven't been in a major situation where my morals went head-to-head with the rules. But there was this one time last semester... This classmate of mine was seriously struggling with our essay. Like, panic-attack levels of struggling because it was almost time. I usually try to help people understand class activities, walk them through it, the whole thing. But that day, I was drowning. I have part-time job, I really gotta go. And the worse part is I owe her money. I just can't ignore her and she was begging for help, but I knew if I sat down and taught her what to write, it would take hours – hours I just didn't have. So, I did something I'm not exactly proud of. I asked her personal questions to make the essay more personal and then... I wrote the essay for her. It's kinda same thing anyway it's just that, my hands are faster and my brain is working well (I'm not saying her brain isn't working well... whatever) anyways, yeah.. I know, I know, totally against the academic honesty policy.
But honestly, I was so stressed and BUSY that day, my brain just went into survival mode. It was faster, cleaner, and meant I could actually make it to my part-time job on time. I justified it to myself by saying I was saving her from failing and saving my self from getting late, but deep down, I knew it was wrong. I broke the rule against plagiarism and academic dishonesty, but in that moment, my moral code – or, you know, my desperate need to pay rent – took over. It's not something I'd do again, but yeah, it happened.
And based on that situation, if I had to pick between the law, ethics, and my own sense of what's right and wrong? I'm going with my gut, every time. I know it sounds kinda reckless, right? But honestly, some laws are just BS, and some "ethical" practices are just what people in charge want you to think is okay. I'm not saying I'm gonna go full-on anarchist or anything, but if something feels morally wrong to me, I can't just ignore it because some old dude in a suit made a law about it, or because everyone else is doing it. At the end of the day, I got to stick to what I believe is right, even if it's not the easiest or most popular choice.
