I listened to The Reith Lecture last week. Prof. Michael Sandel talked about the importance of openly discussing moral issues in politics. He gave some very interesting examples where moral issues were disguised as economic ones in an attempt to avoid discussing them and in doing so, they were able to claim some sort of neutrality.
Recent MPs' expenses scandal sheds some light upon the extent in which morality is removed or rather intentionally avoided from our political arena. When the news first broke, MPs avoided their moral responsibilities by blaming the system. They wanted us to think that it was a system failure rather than failure in their morality.
I agree with what Prof. Michael Sandel is advocating. I believe in transparency and openness. However, I cannot stop thinking about ‘How’?….We all have different moral standards even though we may share some basics. I remember Stephen Fry's reaction to MPs' expenses abuse, 'so what?'
Why do I feel we will somehow find excuses to avoid or refrain discussing moral issues and seek answers in rules, laws, regulations and systems. Am I too cynical or have I been in a moral closet too long?
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