Test your morality here.

sleepy

Welcome to the test your morality post.
This one of the worlds tests and has been compialed by one of the worlds greatest scientific minds.
Unfortunatly I've lost that test so here is my own.

You and group of friends/workmates have a lottery sydicate going.
Every week you each have personnal set of numbers that you enter if any of those numbers comes up you share the winnings.
You take it in turns to go to the shop to by the tickets.
Here are your dilemas.

1.One week a work mate/friend is ill or on holiday (Or something happens that makes it impossible for them to pay)and cannot to pay for their ticket.Your sydicate wins.
Do you share the prize with him?

2.One week a work mate forgets to pay his share.
Do you share the prize with him?

3.One week the person who elected to by the tickets forgets .One of the numbers comes up.
Do you forgive them?

4.One week your particular number comes up.You have had to pay for everyone that week as they were all out of money (and are going to pay you back next week)although they all had enought money to go out drinking that night.
Do you keep the winnings for your self?

WildHorses

If they are my friends, yes, of course. I would share. I would maybe not share it equally, but I would share, because if I had been the one without the money to buy the ticket, I would hope they would share with me too.

Lilacs

I don't want someone in my life I can live with. I want someone in my life I can't live without.

Infrared

1. Hell no
2. Hell no
3. Hell no
4. Hell yeah

gumby

I would donate every penny to the society to further the good news, as this old system is soon to end and tell my friends to go to hell!
Actually
Yes....in all 4 questions

Mindchild

Okay here goes, first when I get involved with anyone in any type of business transaction, I not only make sure that everything is spelled out in WRITING but that different contengencies are covered such as what you bring up here. Second, I wouldn't be involved in a lottery at all, a very poor investment of money for the returns.

Having said this, and only looking at the moral issues involved, here is my take of things:

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. No. (if a person lets down other members of the team without circumstances beyond their control being responsible, then they have proven themselves to be unreliable and destructive to everyone else. I would make it plain from the very start that this would be unacceptable behavior and if it happened anyway, too bad they are out.)
4. This would be hard to say because if they failed in their promise to hold up their end of the bargain without due cause, then they have violated the terms of the agreement and are not justified in receiving the rewards. If the agreement was very casual and loose with no qualifying factors, then I would have to say yes and have no one to blame but myself for having a casual agreement.

I'm a huge fan of justice and fairness but I believe that many people routinely abuse others, even their friends and loved ones, because of not thinking things through clearly and discerning their own moral principles and being true to them. If you let such people victimize you as well, you are doing yourself a huge disfavor.

Skipper

patio34

Hi Sleepy,

I couldn't answer the questions as i don't agree they're necessarily moral questions. It seems to me that they could fall into a personal-choice category. Who's to say that they were moral questions, IMHO.

Plus, there are still too many variables even if it were granted to be a question of morality. What is the history with the co-workers? What is the agreement? What have they done? Couldn't answer these.

Ethics probably would enter into it. Law might too.

Pat

"It's easier to put on slippers than to carpet the world." (from "Stuart Saves His Family")