--ETLW 302 FINAL-- Parable of Sadhu and Other Ethics

parable of sadhu timeline

New Zealander carries the dying man down the mountain, says that he is their problem now and that he has done everything that he can. McCoy then contributes by taking the man's pulse. stephan and the swiss then give him clothes. mccoy then goes on ahead. stephen stays with the sadhu, asks the japanese to borrow their horse to transport the man. they say no and Psanang and the sherpas say that they can not carry the man 1,000 feet down the hill to the hut while making it over the ridge. sherpas carry him down to a rock in the sun and he eats the japanese's food and throws rocks at their dog.

corporate relations to sadhu dilemma ...

a corporate tradition that encourages freedom of inquiry, supports personal values, and reinforces a focused sense of direction can fulfill the need to combine individuality with the prosperity and success of the group..without this corporate support, the individual is lost.

what went wrong with handling the sadhu ...

because the group did not have a set of preconditions that could guide its action to an acceptable resolution, they reacted instinctively as individuals. there was no leader with whom they could all identify and in whose purpose they believed. Only stephen was willing to take charge, but he could not gain adequate support from the group to care for the sadhu.

drug cartels recruiting children

children aka 'EXPENDABLES', in texas are actively recruiting children for their operations, attracting them with easy money for simple tasks. 25 minors have been arrested in one texas county for running drugs, cartels are now fanning out, have operations in all major Texas cities. texas is joining a program called Operation Detour in which law enforement officers meet with children and their parents in schools and at community centers to warn them about the dangers of what appears to be the easy money the mexican drug gangs offer. children are less likely to be suspects than adults, are easily maniplulated by small amounts of money, and face less severe penalties than adults if arrested. cartels are going to try and create a sanitary zone.

self -examination

ethics call for us to be reflective, to engage in self-examination. we see ethics at work when we look carefully at ourselves. the only way to know ourselves is to examine what we are and who we are. ethics calls for us to examine and reevaluate the compartmentalized life that makes it possible for us to live the way we do

slowing down

ethics slows us down, interrupts routine, habituated patterns of everyday life, and disrupts the placid self assurance that all is well. we find that old explanations no longer work.

McCoy's excuse...

high adrenaline flow, superordinate goal, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. STRESS was also a huge factor

encounter

in conversations and stories, often a protagonist is provoked by an encounter with another person, a person who provides a different perspective on the events in question and may call on the protagonist to account for himself

consequences of drugs being illegal

make miscreants incredibly rich. foster growth of gangs/corruption of young people. increase violence. increase law enforcement corruption. increase political corruption. increase 'binge' usage. foster the growth of organized crime. increase prison population. drain resources from education, prevention, and rehabilitation. increase immigration (brain drain mexico, poorest of the poor)

stephan's take on the parable

mccoy says that due to stephen's religious Quaker moral vision, he was able to see the situation for what it is. he says that what happened with the sadhu is a perfect example of the breakdown between the individual ethic and the corporate ethic. as individual christians or as people with western ideology, one can fulfill obligations in situation if sadhu dies in their care, the sadhu demonstrates he can undertake the two-day walk ti the village, or they carry the sadhu for two days down to the village and persuade someone there to actually care for him

accounting and giving reason

stories are not simply 'accounts' of events, but an effort on the part of some person to 'account' for what has taken place, a decision to be made or not made. In the 'parable of the sadhu' bowen mccoy is bothered by his encounter with the sadhu, but it is his friend stephen who pushes him to give a more carful accounting of their decision

story

we learn about ethics from stories, for examples, bowen mccoy tells the story of a nepal trip, an encounter with a near naked sadhu and the decision to continue the journey and leave the sadhu behind

conversation

we learn about ethics in the scenarios we study, by listening to those who are trying to figure out whether they have done the right thing.