When I turned 15, all I could think about was getting my driver’s license. I was excited, scared, but ready for the challenge of finally getting to drive a car. I went to the DMV and passed the written permit test. My parents began to let me drive around our town in short trips so that I got some experience. Before I felt I was ready, my dad encouraged me to drive our family to Knott’s Berry Farm in our big Ford van. Over my doubts, I chose to listen to him and drive the car. On some side streets on the way there, I had an accident and clipped the side mirror of a car on the street. It was my first accident and I was in a state of shock. I stopped the car and my dad yelled “GO!”. I was unsure what to do because I knew that it wasn’t the right thing to do; yet he was my authority figure and I am supposed to listen to him. I ended up listening to him and fled the scene. It was a hard choice and I thought about it for a long time after. This was the first time I have thought about it in a while and I understand now that he was trying to look out for me, not wanting to have me be embarrassed by everyone in the car. However, it was the wrong thing to do and I know now that when my kid has his first accident, I will make him pull over and write a note.

During my junior year of high school, I applied and was hired at a frozen yogurt shop. Being my first job, I was nervous about my abilities and eager to please my employer. The first week of employment went smoothly and I started to gain confidence in my work. Soon, I noticed the store was harming customers without their knowing. For example, the frozen yogurt is supposedly "all natural" made with fresh fruit, however it was actually made with artificial flavoring and extra sugar. Old toppings were mixed in with new toppings. The yogurt machines were rarely cleaned. The smoothies were made with fruit, frozen for weeks at a time, and two tablespoons of a clear liquid that I have yet to identify myself. As an employee, I had to reassure customers that our frozen yogurt was healthy and nonfat, with little amounts of sugar. I was often confronted about the mysterious clear liquid in the smoothies, but was told to act like I had no idea what they were talking about. Even though I knew I was deceiving people, I was scared at the idea I might be fired two weeks after employment. Things changed when I found a dead bee in one of the raspberry packages. I showed the dead bee to my manager and was going to throw away the raspberry package, but my manager ordered me to simply discard the bee and serve the raspberries to customers. I was disgusted, but followed her instructions. Finally, I realized I would rather do chores than serve unsanitary yogurt. I quit after I threw out the raspberries I had put in the containers. I berated myself for taking orders just for some extra money.

Childhood is a very vulnerable moment during which you may find yourself close to compromising your morals just to obey an authority figure. At the age of 17, I was forced to live with an older family member and her husband due to my father being a very physically abusive alcoholic. During my stay with them, my cousin's husband became very friendly and disturbingly flirty towards me. Given my very delicate mental state, I was at risk for this predator to use his power and authority to get me to fall for his sick intentions. He began an attempt to brainwash me by telling me how much he cared about me and how I would not be in this situation if I had a "real man" to take care of me. Soon the advances commenced along with subtle threats. He wanted me to believe that what he was doing for me was a huge favor and inconvenience, therefore, I was expected to somehow compensate him. My other choice was to go back to my father, who was not by any means in his right mind. By obeying this man, I would have definitely done something very immoral and illegal. It was a very grave lose-lose situation. Fortunately, I was old enough to know right from wrong and was able to protect myself. Although disobeying my caretaker did end up getting me kicked out of their home and I wound up practically homeless, I do still feel I made the most morally correct choice of my life.

i have seen and expierenced when obeying an authority figure is morally wrong. there is this pet shop in carson called buzzes and they used to sell puppies. the cange they had werent really cages i thought, they were just big glass aquariums with no tops. they were pretty open and i thought that was coll. but anywho this lady had wanted a puppy and it was a breed that was very espensive and one she wanted for a long time. she could not afford it so she brought her 6 year old daughter to the store, walked in picked up the puppy when she tought noone waslooking, gave the dog to her daughter and told her to run to the car. both the moter and the daughter ran jumped in the car and drove off. the mother set such a horrible example for her 6 year old and i felt really bad for the kid because im sure all she was thinking was yay mom gave me a dog. she really didnt have a chance to think if it was right or wrong to take the dog. the poor baby was jus told to run. the moter shoud be ashamed of her self to be teaching her baby that it is ok to steal when it is not. as or me my experience is when i was hired at target. the lady who trained me gave me some wrong information about the target brand coupons. when i got to my store i asked one of my managers if the information given to me was right and she told me no. well about a monthor so later i found myself doubl and triple scaning these coupons for both my manager and a few co workers and i felt really really bad about it. but i was always taught not to question authoriy so i continued to do so for about a wek or so. when i finally could'nt take it anymore i went to talk to the manager above mine but he was gone for a few days and i had to wait till he got back. the day before he returned to work my manager, co workers and i were all arrested for conspirncy, theft, fraud and like 2 or 3 other things. i was so angry more at myself for doing what i knew was just to keep the job i lost anyway and to make things worse i was just about to tell my manager so that i wouldnt have to be stuck in the middle anymore. from this experience i learned that you cannot trust all "authoriy figures" and when you yourself feel or think something is wrong....it is and you shouldnt participate in it. i learned it the ard way and know not to do anything stupid like that again.

Andre, yes I do agree that the morally better choice would have to disobey the order. But, the situation I was in, I couldn't do that. Mainly because it would have ruined my career, because now I am an officer candidate, and I have a clean record, with that on my record I could have jeopardized my career. I'm not saying what I did was right; it was just easier to obey my officer and not get in trouble.

Andrebaevre wrote:

Jonathan Alvarez wrote:

A situation that I been in that obeying a figure of authority which to me was morally wrong to do is easy when it comes to mind. I am a United State Marine Reservist. When I was overseas, my Captain who is a figure of authority told our unit to open fire onto a crowd of unharmed protestors holding signs that were anti-bush, and anti-war. He told us that he received word that all protestors are deemed hostile, and there is a threat of a suicide bomber in crowds, and if they approached us to “stop the hostile crowd.” When he gave all of us the word to open fire, my squad looked up at me since I was standing on top of the humvee. So we had to do what we had to do. We had to listen to our commanding officer who is a figure of authority. We all knew that killing innocent people was very morally wrong. After we did what we did, we had to examine the crowd; we found neither weapons nor bombs. All we found was signs, men, women, teenagers, and children. If we refused to obey an direct order from a figure of authority, we could have faced court martial, possible dishonorable discharge and time in the brig which is military prison.

First, I apology if I am writing about something that you feel very sensitive about and if so, please, no need to reply or care about my text below at all.

This situation you found yourself in was my nightmare during my own military service, luckily I did not have to open fire, and I just want to state I am not that unfamiliar with your position but I am curious, wouldn't a court martial, a possible dishonorable discharge (Yes, possible) and a possible sentence to military prison, be the (when you think back or being a outsider reading this), the morally better choice or did you ever file a complaint to your superior, or did someone else? - In 2006 after some very controversial newspaper caricatures of Mohammad in Nordic newspapers an angry mob of up to 5000 persons besieged a mainly Norwegian force of 45 soldiers in the small city of Meymaneh in Afghanistan, setting afire several veichles and trying to put the main building on fire, of those 5000 persons, total 400 sharp shots was fired by the Norwegian soldiers and 5 accountable death - however we do not know if that was the Afghan policemen or Norwegian soldiers that shot to kill, towards the most aggressive demonstrators.

Here we can see a situation similar to yours but here we know that the demonstrators are armed, shoots to kill and are throwing molotov cocktails, yet the soldiers and the superios chose not to open fire directly at the crowd but rather pick the most aggressive ones that tried to put the main building on fire, to smoke the soldiers out.

Last edited by Jonathan Alvarez on Sat Jun 27, 2009 3:33 pm; edited 1 time in total

Jimmy, I understand why you listened and obeyed your manager. 1. You feared that you could lose your job, and 2. He could demote or cut your hours. So it was just easier for you to go with the flow. The reason you felt horrible, was because you knew the difference between right and wrong and he did not. I’m glad he got what he deserved, that’s karma for you.

Jimmy_Vo wrote:

I was once a supervisor at Macy’s and I had the ability to edit my staff’s electronic time cards. My manager had hired someone he had previously worked with at a different location. They both would come in late and leave early. My manager had taken me to the office one day to edit both his and his friend’s time to reflect that they had both been working eight hours days. I knew it was wrong, but I did what he asked because he was my manager. I think my manager noticed the hesitation in my voice and body language and never asked me again. I felt horrible because of what I had done. I knew my team’s morale was down because they noticed the manager and his friend were barley there. I had felt I had been an accomplice; I had helped them take advantage of the company. A few months had passed and I had transferred to a different store. I received a call from my previous manager. He had told me he and his friend had been terminated for cheating on their time cards. The feeling of guilt left me when I heard the news and I though "He deserved it."

Jazmen, I think that at the moment when you got arrested for what you did, you realized that the authority figures was only after their own interest and not so much caring about the rest. Though I have never been put in a situation such as that, I can imagine how hard of a choice it would be and especially when you just begin a job. I am just wondering whether you could have avoided the situation if you would have acted like you did not remember how to do the coupons and maybe another manager would have helped you in the proper way? And in this way maybe you would not have to have gone back to the same one that taught you the wrong way? I'm not sure how it would work exactly but maybe since I have never been in a situation such as that, then maybe it is the reason that it seems to me like there are always other options on handling things without looking bad or getting in trouble at the same time.

jazmen christion wrote:

i have seen and expierenced when obeying an authority figure is morally wrong. there is this pet shop in carson called buzzes and they used to sell puppies. the cange they had werent really cages i thought, they were just big glass aquariums with no tops. they were pretty open and i thought that was coll. but anywho this lady had wanted a puppy and it was a breed that was very espensive and one she wanted for a long time. she could not afford it so she brought her 6 year old daughter to the store, walked in picked up the puppy when she tought noone waslooking, gave the dog to her daughter and told her to run to the car. both the moter and the daughter ran jumped in the car and drove off. the mother set such a horrible example for her 6 year old and i felt really bad for the kid because im sure all she was thinking was yay mom gave me a dog. she really didnt have a chance to think if it was right or wrong to take the dog. the poor baby was jus told to run. the moter shoud be ashamed of her self to be teaching her baby that it is ok to steal when it is not. as or me my experience is when i was hired at target. the lady who trained me gave me some wrong information about the target brand coupons. when i got to my store i asked one of my managers if the information given to me was right and she told me no. well about a monthor so later i found myself doubl and triple scaning these coupons for both my manager and a few co workers and i felt really really bad about it. but i was always taught not to question authoriy so i continued to do so for about a wek or so. when i finally could'nt take it anymore i went to talk to the manager above mine but he was gone for a few days and i had to wait till he got back. the day before he returned to work my manager, co workers and i were all arrested for conspirncy, theft, fraud and like 2 or 3 other things. i was so angry more at myself for doing what i knew was just to keep the job i lost anyway and to make things worse i was just about to tell my manager so that i wouldnt have to be stuck in the middle anymore. from this experience i learned that you cannot trust all "authoriy figures" and when you yourself feel or think something is wrong....it is and you shouldnt participate in it. i learned it the ard way and know not to do anything stupid like that again.

Though a much lesser level of moral, it was still not the right thing to do. This past softball season I participated on my high school’s Varsity team and we did pretty well all season and placed in Bay League allowing us to compete in CIF in mid May. This should have been thrilling and motivating time for our team but for a few to include our team captain it seemed like work and extra effort. She therefore talked down upon the team and persuaded many to play down so we would end the season and we would be let out of practice at 2pm rather than the 4-4:30pm. This girl was supposed to be the captain and pump the team up and motivate us. However, selfishness got the best of this girl and she in turn let the team, coaches and school down. Though I chose to play to the best of my ability, a few of the younger classmen who happen to be the core of our team later expressed to me, that they didn’t play to their ability because they felt intimidated and did not want to be demoted from the Varsity team if we had won that game. Some could argue this to be an inconvenience or undesirable to myself, but I was not focusing so much on the example of sports as I wanted to point out the idea of pressure within teamwork. Though I do not have much work experience I do understand that in many jobs you are a co-worker part of a larger team. I hope to learn from what many other students in this class have stated about how they were miss lead or pressured to do something they knew or felt was wrong. Having read these student’s stories, I hope not to fall in step and do something I feel is immorally wrong.

Everyone,

There are many great stories here now. To be used in response to essay choice #4, you would have to show how some of our readings can relate to the stories. For example, Fromm talks about rational vs. irrational authority at the bottom of page 404. Rational authority has both members of the relationship striving on the same side, whereas he defines irrational authority as having two parties working to contrary purposes or in an exploitative relationship. Which of the stories in this thread show rational, and which irrational authority? What other terms by any of our writers could be brought into play regarding any of these stories?

Earlier this year I remember watching TV and hearing about a story that was big in the News and sports world. It was a story about a football player named Ryan Moats who was driving down the street rushing to the hospital because his Mother-in-law was dying in her hospital bed. Moats ran a red light at the intersection outside the hospital, where a Dallas Police Officer named Robert Powell saw Moats violate the traffic law. However, Moats did have the hazard lights flashing on his vehicle, and carefully passed through the intersection. When Officer Powell seen Moats drive through the intersection, he pulled behind Moats to signal his siren and pull him over. Moats did not pull over right away, he drove about a block further and stopped in front of the emergency room. Moats got out of the car and tried to explain to the officer that he was rushing his family to the hospital because his Mother-in-law was dying. Officer Powell did not listen, pulled out his weapon and yelled at Moats and his wife. When Moats consistently tried to explain the situation to the Officer, the Officer ignored Moats threatening to take Moats to jail and pointed his weapon at him. Moats insisted that Officer Powell just site him a ticket and release his family to see his Mother-in-law. When another Officer finally came and confirmed that Moats was telling the truth, Officer Powell still continued to hold Moats and his family from going to see their relative before she died. As a result, Moats, his Wife and other family members, did not get to see his Mother-in-law before she passed because she died while they were in the parking lot. I feel like this is a good reason not listen to a higher authority because of a good moral. If it was the Officer's family member, he would have reacted the same way. It is morally excepted for people to see their loved ones before passing away to say their last words. But in this case we see that the Officer abused his authority instead of understanding the situation and looking at what was morally right. If I was in Moats' shoes that day, I would have reacted the same way. Sometimes you have to put what is morally right above the law.

Jonathan Alvarez wrote:

A situation that I been in that obeying a figure of authority which to me was morally wrong to do is easy when it comes to mind. I am a United State Marine Reservist. When I was overseas, my Captain who is a figure of authority told our unit to open fire onto a crowd of unharmed protestors holding signs that were anti-bush, and anti-war. He told us that he received word that all protestors are deemed hostile, and there is a threat of a suicide bomber in crowds, and if they approached us to “stop the hostile crowd.” When he gave all of us the word to open fire, my squad looked up at me since I was standing on top of the humvee. So we had to do what we had to do. We had to listen to our commanding officer who is a figure of authority. We all knew that killing innocent people was very morally wrong. After we did what we did, we had to examine the crowd; we found neither weapons nor bombs. All we found was signs, men, women, teenagers, and children. If we refused to obey an direct order from a figure of authority, we could have faced court martial, possible dishonorable discharge and time in the brig which is military prison.

Jonathan it took a lot off guts to share that story with us so I applaud you for your courage and your previous service to our country. However this is a popular issue seen in the new, told by our veteran, and seen in movies and documentaries. Many of our troops are put into this situation and forced to face a descions on breaking morals, laws, and even religion. Personally, I can understand why you made the descions you made. One, you were forced to by a higher authority. Two, you could of face possible jail time or as quiet as it is kept, even death! I have heard stories and seen documentaries were soldiers have been taken out because they didn't obey an order or follow the rest of his men. Ultimately you were face with a young descions that no young man should be forced to take, but at the end of the day, I realize that you had to do, what you needed to in order to survive.