“Ethics and oversight are what you eliminate when you want absolute power.”

— DaShanne Stokes

We live in a time of extended ethical and moral naiveté.

Politicians lie with abandon – most believing it’s normal and that, in contrast to our license plate slogan, seeming is more important than being.

Much-valued tradesman – think mechanics, repairmen and plumbers – are notoriously inconsistent in charging fair fees while providing honest assessments of problems.

Today’s journalists may be able to pull their ethical code out of a dusty college memory, but very few have any even remote attachment to applying those standards in the real world.

The list goes on and on — and the pool of participants is growing with frightening rapidity.

For those of us who believe ethics are crucial to ensuring that mankind reaches its maximum potentials with a minimum of hardship, our ethical framework should not be left to chance.

To be truly ethical, we’ve got to know ethical.

The road less traveled –

There are a host of theoretical frameworks for ethical behavior. Here’s a quick list, and an example or two of those who might be a practitioner:

• Popularity ethics – Practitioners of this model match their behavior with what they believe will please their intended audience. This is why politicians are so good at saying what their supporters want to hear. Over time, this approach busts our moral compass and we lose our capacity to see right or wrong. Joe Biden is a popularity ethics guy.

• Ego ethics – These folks run off what’s best for them. They’re big into rights without responsibilities and putting their needs over the needs of others. Serial killers, crony capitalists, welfare cheats, BLM administrators, and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried take this opportunistic approach to ethics.

• Situational ethics – Think of a windvane that shifts to the prevailing currents. Flexibility and adaptability are this person’s mark of distinction. Though they may talk honor, integrity, and answerability – they con themselves and others – and walk a lot like most every FBI, DOJ, CIA, CDC, and national governmental agency leader in recent history. Asheville’s mayor fits this model – as does former White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

• Utilitarian ethics – These folks believe that the ends justify the means and are willing to cross any line needed to reach their goals. Vladimir Putin wears this hat with distinction.

• Duty ethics – Close to utilitarians, these folks are better because they believe that both the means and the ends matter. They care about something beside their own gain, and strive to make the world a better place. Your average soldier or police officer joins up to fulfill this ethical model. Elon Musk has duty ethics playing a strong part in his life script.

• Virtue ethics – These folks are the cream of the crop. They value character, morality, and being true to a healthy code of conduct as an end unto itself. They don’t bend to popularity, pressure, or selfish impulses. These people are usually the best of us, and they are exceedingly rare. Christians who are sincere to their call to faith stand as good examples of virtue ethics. In contrast to the current guy at the helm of the Vatican, Pope Paul operated with an ethical dedication to faith, grounded in personal virtue.

As you can see, consistently, constructively and truly ethical people are few and far between.

Spotting the unethical –

There are a handful of traits that quickly reveal the unethical— (1) They have a moral code that is infinitely flexible (2) They see self-service as their highest priority (3) They easily justify bad means by pretending they’re pursuing good goals (4) They are masterful at pomp and pretense and (5) They evade accountability like Bigfoot evades cameras.

Unethical people are most reliably spotted by their deeds, rarely by polished words.

Celebrating the other guys –

People operating out of real ethics are easy to spot— (1) They’re anchored in integrity and objectivity. (2) They strive to uplift others as surely as self. (3) They seek to do the right thing as a matter of principle versus convenience (4) They work to be competent, honest, and productive and (5) They pick up the ball and embrace accountability.

Yes, it’s true that no one hits the ethical bullseye every time. Good people just try harder than the other guys. And one other thing, under most circumstances you’ll find that ethical people are reliably more irritating than unethical people. Their higher bar fingers us for sloth.

Why does it matter?

Without truth, nothing works, everything eventually breaks, and suffering is unleashed. At the root of an ethical life is a dedication to truth.

Don’t believe those who say truth is relative. It’s scam thinking used to justify the unethical.

Perhaps the greatest current ethical imperative is found in politics and governance. It’s an arena fraught with ethical failure, distortion and indifference – at every level.

That matters because in the absence of ethical leadership, self-protection instincts will take over and people will embrace the least ethical leadership.