Complicated Subject: Moral Flexibility

During the movie, Nick Naylor, who happens to be a lobbyist on the behalf of cigarette, have this conversation with his son.

Son: “Can’t anyone be a lobbyist?”

Nick Naylor: “No… It requires a certain moral flexibility that goes beyond most people.”

Son: “Do I have flexible morals?”

Nick Naylor: “Well… Let’s say you become a lawyer and you were asked to defend a murderer, no worst than that, a child murderer. Now the law states that every person deserves a fair trial. Would you defend him?”

As for my complicated subject, I’ve decided to explain a particularly term used in“ Thank you for smoking” which is moral flexibility.

Our live is built on decisions and dilemmas. Every actions and calls we make are based upon our perception of what we consider the “right” things to do or the “wrong” things to do. Now the key to moral flexibility is that since our moral in influenced by our OWN perception of the world and society, even though you may come across someone who shares your principle and values, you can always play and bend your morale factor to act without feeling guilty. Why? Because we are all different. And no one is going to blame you for your values.

Now let’s talk about “moral flexibility. What is it? Well first of, it is composed of two words:

Moral: which concerns the principle of “right” and “wrong”.

Flexibility: to be easily modified to respond to altered circumstances or conditions.

As such, moral flexibility is the aptitude to bend our principle to achieve many spins for many purposes. On one hand, people with flexible morale can either come to their end or use it as a “get away” technique from a situation where they would be cornered if they were to stick with their principles. The most interesting part is that by bending your moral, not only you get away but you simply don't feel guilty whatsoever. One the other hand, people who would stick firmly to their principle would in theory, always chose the action they believe to be right.

Do you have flexible morale? Well as for as I’m concerned, we all have some sort of moral flexibility to a certain extend. People cheat, people lie. People download. Let’s talk about downloading, a subject we talked about couple months ago. It is considered as stealing and unethical and therefore the “wrong” things to do. Many people are aware of what downloading represents and how it is perceived. However, so many people still download without feeling guilty. Why? Because (thanks?) to their flexible moral.

In some situation, flexible morale is always used where there is no “right” outcome. Both decisions end up in a “No win situation”. This is where you have to prioritize your principles.

In the movie, Nick Naylor stressed how parental education is important in a children growth during a debate against the health organization. Education doesn’t come from a sign of a pack of cigarettes, it comes from parental control.

Health organization:” Ok Mr. Nick Naylor, what are you going to do when your son turns 18. Are you going to share one lovely afternoon smoking cigarettes?”

From this moment, Nick Naylor is cornered. He has the choice of speaking on the behalf of the cigarette OR as a father.

On one side, if he speaks as a father and say "No because smoking kills" , he would then lose the debate. On the other side, if he speaks on the behalf of cigarette, he goes against his principles. For both case, moral flexibility is required.

After speaking on the behalf of cigarette, Nick Naylor comes out of the conference room with a sense of guiltiness.

Nick Naylor may not seems so flexible when it comes to his son.