by Nicholas Stitt

Created on: September 09, 2008

Through the blessing of free will, any of us can make decisions based only on our own needs and desires-but such selfishness hardly reflects a good moral standing. True, if only we are in jeopardy of an immoral decision, a selfish choice is righteously easy. No one else will be affected by our poor moral choice, and, any "wrong" we do is un-judged by others.

But few of us are alone in this worldeven Ted Kaczynski had to interact with a weapons dealer, and some moral agreement had to bring buyer and seller to a peace. No matter whom you are or where you go, eventually you'll run into someone you need to coordinate a decision with.

Instantly, there's trouble. No two people, even "good" people from a shared ethic and cultural uprising have perfectly synchronized morals. It doesn't matter if you're deciding on streamer color for the homecoming paradeor determining whether to drill for oil in a rich wildlife areamorals are going to clash. Morals heavily influence our decisions, and continued indecision impedes progress.

If a group of people within the same culture must collaborate on a decision, that's the best case scenario. Things turn far uglier when each party holds a radically different ethical code. Its one thing to debate over providing vegetarian dining options for a school lunch program, but another can of worms to demand they be organic, locally grown, kosher, and purchasable at a student discount.

You mean someone really cares that much about third grade green beans?

Complex, I know. But there is a reliable method to all this; we've established that morals affect our decisions, and our decisions affect others around us.

So what exactly are morals? And why have them?

A good moral is a lifestyle value, which, when influencing your decisions, places the needs of others above your own while maintaining the greater good.

Think of the last certain decision you made, no matter how small it seemed. How did things turn out? Did everything mesh as you planned? Could a different course of action have been more positive? Before you finalize a decision, stop to think how it could affect others around you, positively and negatively, both in short and the long term. There's a very good chance your best decision helps others the most while harming the least.

Constantly placing others' needs above your own seems unrealistic, especially if you're trapped in a leech relationship, continuing to aid a selfish person who gives nothing in return. But that person's selfish morals are enabling them and making them reliant. In a perfect utopia, everyone's giving and concern for the better of mankind would more than offset any stresses felt by the giver from losing too much of themselves. A pinch of grain sown would reap loaves.

Such extreme socialism is far better on paper than in practice; our free choice still makes the selfish decisions easy and even justified in these tough times. But with a good moral code to back up your most important decisions, you'll be guided to make the best ones for yourself and those you touch. Witnessing your positive moral choices, others will catch on, respect your kindness, and reflect those qualities back to you.

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