Yesterday I watched a Swahili movie about a husband and wife living in the Meru District (my stomping grounds). They had a field of corn that was to be harvested soon. The husband had gotten a selling price of 1 million shillings plus a cell phone–under market price. However, the wife found a buyer willing to pay 3.2 million.
Unfortunately, they didn’t communicate before closing the respective deals, so they had two buyers but only one field of corn.
The husband learned that his wife had gotten a much more lucrative deal, but instead of telling her about his own deal, he went to the local bar and drank himself into a stupor.
The next day, the first buyer showed up, cut the corn, and proceeded to attempt to leave with it. The wife was having none of that, so the husband had to confess about his deal. Their response to this dilemma?
The husband would lie about having a sale and would claim instead that he was just repaying a loan to the first guy. In other words, he would give the million shillings back and refuse to hand over the corn, falsely claiming that he just owed the guy money from a previous loan. That way he could avoid his crappy deal and reap the benefits of his wife’s better deal.
My fellow lawyer friends, does this sound like a good hypothetical for a law school exam? Can you IRAC the issues? 😆 Can the seller legally avoid the contract? Should he? What are the ethical implications, if any? Who wins?
I will tell you that as an INFJ-T personality type, I had a visceral negative reaction to the avoidance of the husband’s bad deal. A deal is a deal. Period! He made a contract! And don’t get me started on the lying. I loathe lying under any circumstances. You will not be my friend for long if you lie to me.
Let me add some additional facts/perspectives. Do these affect your answer as to who is right?
PART A: An argument is made that this is big money! You can’t honor an agreement if you get a better one later. Your family will disrespect you. You will be viewed as stupid and worthless. You will lose face.
PART B: You don’t have a steady job and don’t know where your next paycheck is coming from. You have a family to care for. You must take the second deal. The end justifies the means.
PART C: Your religion says thou shalt not lie.
PART D: The first guy was a nogoodnik because he tried to buy your corn for a ridiculously low price. Shame on him. You must therefore be worse than him and claim (lie) that you never sold the corn. It was a loan. You are entitled to screw him.
PART E: The corn deal wasn’t in writing and there were no witnesses, so you’re not required to honor it.
PART F: Selling a crop before it is harvested is (allegedly) illegal here.
What do you think? What us the correct outcome? By the way, all of the above are actual perspectives heard from African people I know.
Each day I live here, I am privileged to experience a completely different set of personal beliefs and values. As I said, I’m INFJ (“The Advocate”) and tend to be zealously principled and tuned into right and wrong. For me, the world is black and white when it comes to ethical issues. I’m utterly repulsed that the husband and wife in the maize example would conspire to lie about the husband’s deal with the first guy.
My African friends are equally horrified to learn that I would refuse the big money just because it would involve lying about the first deal. So what?!?
And mind you, these people are mostly Christian.
(Of course, when I heard that selling crops before harvest was illegal, my lawyer brain pounced on illegality as a means to avoid the contract.). So no problem, right? Is that just a technicality? At least lying wouldn’t be necessary.
I guess the point of my rambling is this: is there such thing as absolute right or wrong in this world? I’m not asking from a religious standpoint. I mean, is there a way to judge any particular behavior so that the result would be the same anywhere in the world? That we would all be able to agree what was right and what was wrong in a given situation?
Is it ever okay to deceive? To kill? To bribe or accept bribes? To break a contract? To destroy property?
WWJD?
Yes, I know: people have been struggling with these types of questions since the dawn of human existence. It is called philosophy. It is the reason we have laws! I think that because I now live in a place where day-to-day survival is not a given and people have to scrap for everything, I have perhaps learned that being principled, at least in the way the Western World defines it, is a luxury. Or maybe it’s a curse??? I guess it depends on your own perspective.
One thing’s for sure: as I get older, I may be getting wiser, but it will be infinity before I could understand a fraction of what this universe is about. And I realize, in my own wisdom, is that I will never understand this universe. I am not morally superior. I will never truly understand other people’s struggles and their various perspectives on the world. I really know squat. Knowing this, I can only pray for patience to navigate this life safari with quiet, dignity, and grace. [Okay, there was a little humor there. Who knows the reference?? Extra points for correct answers!]
So, as we prepare to clock out of 2018 and punch our timecards into 2019, let’s pause for a moment and see if we can get some perspective–again. Despite my lack of knowledge, I feel confident that there are some enduring truths that can help us keep our chins above the muck. Pay attention!
- Be kind.
- Love thy neighbor.
- Live and let live.
- Let your wife be in charge of business.
- Don’t drink away your profits.
- Don’t eat the yellow snow.
Can’t we all just get along?
Please comment. I’m truly fascinated at the life lessons that are being handed to me here in Africa, and I would love to discuss. Better yet, come visit us. Everyone should experience Africa. You will go home a changed person–for the better.
– Badger OUT.
Let me just say yes. Our Western World with the Middle and Upper class have no clue about the other side of the coin. Those who actually live paycheck to paycheck and can’t make that paycheck stretch far enough each month. I am so glad that I grew up in a family that didn’t have much money. And I’m so glad now (not at the time maybe) to have lived my early adult life poor. To not have had enough because I truly know what that is like and can sympathies with the people I now supervise. I know it’s made me a better person to have had to suffer some hardships and I understand the perspectives of your African friends who say take the second deal because you need it for survival. In a perfect world we would always be ethical to the nth degree but in that imperfect world, who are we to judge someone who had to break a deal to keep themselves fed?
Is there ever one right answer. I don’t believe there ever is. One person might do something out of ignorance, another out of malice and yet another our of desperation. Which is worse? I’m not saying I agree with breaking obvious right and wrongs, just that there’s more to the person than what is on the surface. That said, I also believe you can often times judge a book by it’s cover. Profiling is NOT wrong. It’s what has keep our species alive long enough to argue about profiling.
Your 6 were spot on. Idealistic perhaps, you might have to eat the yellow snow, but I’m not here to judge! I’m an ESFJ-A who was once an ESTJ-A. I think I’m getting softer in my old age. Or maybe it’s because life is easier now? Maybe it’s because I have dogs and dogs can teach us all we need to know about how to live life. Yep, that’s probably it.
Thank you for your insightful comments. I hear you about not having money. What’s shocking to me is what is “poor” to us in the US would probably be a decent living to people here. Until I lived here, I didn’t really understand what it was like to not have. Good reason to show gratitude every day for what you do have. It really helps me. Thanks again!!!