It is important to practice disobedience. Disobedience is a skill like any other, and it needs to be practiced. There will come a time in your life where your ethics will be tested. And in those cases that truly test a person’s soul, doing the right thing almost always requires breaking the rules. If doing the right thing involves following the rules, then there isn’t likely to be an ethical dilemma. Doing the right thing is easy when you’re following the rules. There is no ethical dilemma involved in a police officer arresting someone for a murder they really committed against an innocent victim. The law and morality are on the same side. But sometimes doing the right thing requires violating the rules or the law. Teaching slaves to read was illegal. The rules of insurance companies require their workers to deny as many claims as possible. Countless soldiers have had to violate direct orders in order to do the right thing. Doing the right thing when faced with an ethical dilemma usually requires the violation of some sort of law or rule.
But again, disobedience is a skill. And it must be practiced. The easiest path will always be to simply go with the flow and follow the rule. Just do what you’re told, regardless of morality. Often such decisions have to be made in a split second. If you’re not practiced in disobedience, then your instinct will be to simply comply.
Thus it’s important to practice disobedience. Find harmless ways to break minor rules, just to get in the practice of it. Retailer wants to make you wait in a long line to check your receipt for the goods you already paid for? Walk right out the door. Tell them “no thank you” when they ask to see your receipt. At the airport, decline to have your face scanned at the TSA checkpoint. You’re entirely within your rights to do so, but they certainly make it so having your face scanned is the default option. And find little ways to help people, like this story here, even if it breaks the rules.
Then when you do face a true test of your character, you will already be practiced from years of minor disobedience.
It is important to practice disobedience. Disobedience is a skill like any other, and it needs to be practiced. There will come a time in your life where your ethics will be tested. And in those cases that truly test a person’s soul, doing the right thing almost always requires breaking the rules. If doing the right thing involves following the rules, then there isn’t likely to be an ethical dilemma. Doing the right thing is easy when you’re following the rules. There is no ethical dilemma involved in a police officer arresting someone for a murder they really committed against an innocent victim. The law and morality are on the same side. But sometimes doing the right thing requires violating the rules or the law. Teaching slaves to read was illegal. The rules of insurance companies require their workers to deny as many claims as possible. Countless soldiers have had to violate direct orders in order to do the right thing. Doing the right thing when faced with an ethical dilemma usually requires the violation of some sort of law or rule.
But again, disobedience is a skill. And it must be practiced. The easiest path will always be to simply go with the flow and follow the rule. Just do what you’re told, regardless of morality. Often such decisions have to be made in a split second. If you’re not practiced in disobedience, then your instinct will be to simply comply.
Thus it’s important to practice disobedience. Find harmless ways to break minor rules, just to get in the practice of it. Retailer wants to make you wait in a long line to check your receipt for the goods you already paid for? Walk right out the door. Tell them “no thank you” when they ask to see your receipt. At the airport, decline to have your face scanned at the TSA checkpoint. You’re entirely within your rights to do so, but they certainly make it so having your face scanned is the default option. And find little ways to help people, like this story here, even if it breaks the rules.
Then when you do face a true test of your character, you will already be practiced from years of minor disobedience.