legal matters. DIGITAL ETHICS & REAL ETHICS
class and the scramble for higher peaks by the already ‘high’ societal enclaves. The poor and working class, immigrants and migrants are often mistreated and considered ‘dirty’, ‘foreign’ and only good for a purpose to be determined by a state and the ruling class. And yet, this same group of people are called upon to fuel growth, construction, foreign direct investment and support of their despisers. If you aren’t driving a Benz, BMW or Ferrari, you just aren’t ‘successful’. This is 84 years after The Road to Wigan Pier was written. Technology develops fast, civilisation and virtuous behaviour, not so quickly. Aside from the ‘hard’ actions we as citizens can put into play to try and improve our communities, such as altruistic behaviour, charitable contribution, overly promoted beach clean-ups and much flouted “I am taking a canvas bag to the supermarket” campaigns, there is a lot we human beings can do to change society for the better – me included. This applies whether or not a person is guilty of some of the misdemeanours in the title of this article. We can all start calling out our own snobbery – where someone lives, what car they drive, how they were educated, their accent and our perception of their ‘background’ – and replace these stigma-compounding thoughts with warmth and interest, not highlighting uncomfortable differences, and helping those that want it, without expectation of reward. We should stop lying to ourselves that what we read, what we observe is ethically ‘wrong’ and ‘unfair’, and that we are inherently fair inside. We humans are not fair – we are natural takers and exploiters; we have to regulate our minds and discipline so that we don’t ‘take too much’ from each other and from the planet we live on. We cheat ourselves and, when we promise to do more, we are lazy to fulfil that promise. We are dishonest when we jump on a social media
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thread and quickly criticise others with our ‘righteous minds’, not pausing to consider other points of view, the possibility that circumstances might have produced an extraordinary outcome or bad decision and that under pressure and stress we may also make the same mistakes. I am the Law, You are the Law, We are the Law: If we want to cite laws to improve, we must improve our society and the system through which law is implemented. Law is a product of ourselves, and society has a collective responsibility for dysfunctional law. If we allow states to use their invented laws to murder their own citizens in the streets, supress and imprison journalists for reporting, and support modern concentration camps humiliating Desmond Hughes people for their religious preference, then we can’t point to the ‘law’ and say ‘it is what it is’. The law is us, we are the law, we are responsible. “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote of thy brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:5 [King James Bible]
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By Desmond Hughes, Senior Partner of Hughes Krupica. Hughes Krupica is a law firm which specialises in Real Estate; Construction; Hospitality; Corporate; Commercial; Personal Injury; Dispute Resolution; and Litigation, operating in Bangkok and Phuket, servicing clients in relation to their business activities in Thailand and in other regions of Asia. www.hugheskrupica.com
