What if someone in business who didn’t like you decided to go around spreading lies about you in an effort to turn people against you.
Is the person who goes around telling lies ethical or unethical?
What about the people who know someone is a liar and/or has engaged in dishonest and unethical acts, and yet continue to associate with that kind of person?
Just a little philosophical banter… I’m very interested to know about people’s values and sense of right and wrong are these days. What’s your opinion?
Thanks for commenting. Yeah, the virtual assistant term is really completely idiotic to...
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Ok I bite ..:)
“Is the person who goes around telling lies ethical or unethical?”
Definitely unethical- why would I go around and tell lies about someone else if I am happy with my own life and achievements ??
“What about the people who know someone is a liar and/or has engaged in dishonest and unethical acts, and yet continue to associate with that kind of person? What kind of people are they?”
Pretty sad but then in my opinion insecurity plays a big part here as well…Same as in a big company where you find “Yay sayers” just to cover their butts
For me a person who tells lies about another is a sad person with an obviously unfulfilled live- nobody I want to deal with but certainly someone I feel sorry for
Well – this is a timely post! It is going on in our circle of friends right now. A circle that has been together for over a decade and for some of them their whole lives. Our kids have all known each other since birth. One couple’s life started to get a little intense and they started making up stuff about others to get by, well it cascaded and turned into them getting caught lying and having to back-peddle and blame others in a vain attempt to get out of it. When a simple, “I’m sorry, we freaked out about our lives and it was just easier to blame others than to realize that you were there to help.” would have done just fine – instead they chose to extradite themselves and their children from the group, stating that we didn’t like them anyway. I am so mad at the way they have chosen to behave, unethically, but at the same time, I am sad for and worried about them – because we were so close to them for so long and I am very close to their kids. We all kind of ignored the behavior for so long, thinking they would grow up and get better – now we are just not around them anymore. My black and white / right and wrong side of my personality wants to tell everyone about the lies they have started and that they can’t be trusted so that no one else is hurt by them after thinking that they are friends for so many years like I was – but there’s still that part of me that wants to protect and fix them, even though I know that I can’t and it’s not my job and that you can’t help someone that doesn’t want to be helped. Wow – you picked a poignant day to post this topic, Danielle. You don’t have to post my comment, I know it’s rambling…but it felt good to write it out. Thanks!
I was referring more to business circles, rather than personal/social, but it’s all interesting stuff for sure.
What I find curious is that the liars like to go around calling other people unethical, when it’s they themselves who are unethical. And just because you don’t like someone or what they have to say doesn’t make them unethical.
Sorry to hear about your friends as it’s a loss no matter what. I hope it can be fixed if possible. Sometimes, however, we end up seeing people for who they really are and outgrowing them.
Thanks for posting, Christine.
Are Liars Unethical… that is a hard call. Certainly lying is unethical, but let’s be honest, we’ve all told a white lie to protect someone’s feeling or because we felt backed into a corner. So while I truly believe it is unethical to lie, I don’t think it is reasonable to brand everyone that has told a lie unethical. Does that make sense?
On the other hand, someone that is spreading lies to make themself look or feel better; or to make someone else look bad, is clearly unethical and needs to be called on the carpet. Just my thoughts on the subject.
Hi, Cheryl,
I agree that it would be ridiculous to categorize and label everyone a liar in the context that you refer (hey, we all tell white lies for all kinds of reason, many you mention). But that’s not the question I asked. If you read the post again, you’ll see that what I’m referring to is outright slander/libel. That’s what I’m interested in people’s thoughts on.
Who cares if someone else doesn’t like you, right. I know I sure don’t. But what they don’t get to do is go around telling lies about you.