Lawful vs. Ethical: The Dilemma We All Face

 Lawful vs. Ethical: The Dilemma We All Face

In this world where people are busy building their careers on one hand and talking about early retirement on the other, there is always a debate about what is right and what is not. Sometimes, compromising one's values and succumbing to unethical practices are on the rise, regardless of the field one works in.

I remember coming across a phrase: Sometimes what is unlawful is ethical, and what is unethical is lawful. This paradox plays out in real life more often than we realize.

Consider this: A doctor in a war zone treats wounded soldiers from both sides, including enemy combatants, despite a military law that forbids providing medical aid to the enemy. What the doctor does is ethical but not lawful—ethical because saving lives transcends conflict, but unlawful because it violates a specific regulation. Or take this example: A company legally fires an employee the day after they return from cancer treatment because they are no longer "medically fit" for the role, as permitted by the employment contract. This is lawful but not ethical—lawful because the contract allows it, but deeply unethical for its lack of compassion.

Then there are acts that are both unethical and unlawful, such as a financial advisor embezzling money from an elderly client's retirement fund to pay for personal luxuries. Here, both morality and law are violated—trust is betrayed, and a crime is committed.

The debate on such matters continues, like a battle between the heart and the brain. We can compare the heart to ethics and the brain to law. Ultimately, it is the circumstances and a person's value system that determine the action.

However, some people argue against ethics, claiming that, since the world is bad, we should be, too. They convince themselves that leading an unethical life is the way to settle down fast and live luxuriously. If they indulge in unlawful activities, the courts of law have their own approach. But if they act unethically, the court is their inner self, the lawyers are their conscience, and the judge is their own decision. Though unethical conduct may win the battle, regrets, guilt, and fear are what they will combat on the bed where they sleep. In the end, the mind is filled with memories of an unethical way of life, and as they depart, their actions will haunt them. The people who suffered because of them will flash before their eyes.

 

It is easy to earn a living, but not a dignified life.

M.L. Narendra Kumar