I had a conversation once with a friend; about a year ago, if memory serves me well. We were joking around and catching up, it was a while since we last talked. Then, somehow or rather, I casually mentioned having a blackmail folder.
"What the fuck is a blackmail folder," he asked.
"It literally is a folder where I keep all my potential blackmail material," I said, confused. "Don't you have one?"
"No, obviously I don't. You don't actually use it, do you?"
"Um, not lately, I guess. I did use some of the shit before."
"Dude, that's sick. Kind of messed up."
"Wait, how come?"
"How come? Are you fucking kidding me?"
What followed was a lecture about ethical behaviour which bored me greatly but confused me all the more. Why was it unethical for me to keep my best interest at hand? Why was it unethical for me to be cautious in this day and age?
I'm just putting this out there; this post doesn't end in some sort of realisation that I am wrong and blackmail is wrong and I learn a great lesson about human trust. My blackmail folder is still intact, with multiple copies hidden in strange places and the contents continue to flourish in the nourishing environment that I have provided it with. This is just a way for me to reason with said person whom I have conveniently lost contact with.
After the conversation, I went online and asked strangers what they feel about compiling questionable information about people as a safeguard and after excluding the colourful variants of 'lol faget', the resounding conclusion is that it is acceptable. Perhaps the guise of anonymity has an influence on the answers but I digress.
I asked some people that I know personally for their opinion. Most of them were adamant about how the idea of keeping tabs on someone else is an obvious breach of trust. We must have faith in other people, they said, and leave the rest to fate.
Quite obviously, I disagreed. The main problem people seemed to have revolved around the issue of trust and how we must uphold the sanctity of it but what if we took trust out of the picture?
I'm not trying to justify my stance in the matter but picture this. We take actions to safeguard ourselves from harm all the time, in fact, one might say that not doing so is foolish. We put on hard hats, wear gloves and boots, take our vitamins, have medical checkups and so on. Our safety comes first and it is of paramount value. Now why can't we have the same logic when it comes to said folder? After all, the basis of its existence remains the same; to protect oneself. Trust has nothing to do with it. I might value you as a friend above everyone else but the fact remains that if you decide to one day stab me in the back, I'd like to have some form of protection. If you uphold our friendship, then you wouldn't have anything to worry.
Someone asked me how I'd feel if people kept tabs on me and right now I can safely say that I wouldn't mind, given that said person doesn't misuse what he has. In fact, I have a feeling that things will improve so much if everyone was given the liberty to do just that. People won't fuck each other over without mulling it over for a long time. That'd be grand. Sure, you might say that it makes everyone live in fear but seriously, as opposed to everything that's going on, perhaps we need some fear in us to remind ourselves of the high road.
The point that I agreed on was the discipline needed to not use the information for giggles. The restraint needed to not divulge information or maybe even sell them. From where I stand, it's the only problem with this issue and one that isn't so easily solved.
TL;DR nothing wrong with having a blackmail folder given you don't misuse it.
"What the fuck is a blackmail folder," he asked.
"It literally is a folder where I keep all my potential blackmail material," I said, confused. "Don't you have one?"
"No, obviously I don't. You don't actually use it, do you?"
"Um, not lately, I guess. I did use some of the shit before."
"Dude, that's sick. Kind of messed up."
"Wait, how come?"
"How come? Are you fucking kidding me?"
What followed was a lecture about ethical behaviour which bored me greatly but confused me all the more. Why was it unethical for me to keep my best interest at hand? Why was it unethical for me to be cautious in this day and age?
I'm just putting this out there; this post doesn't end in some sort of realisation that I am wrong and blackmail is wrong and I learn a great lesson about human trust. My blackmail folder is still intact, with multiple copies hidden in strange places and the contents continue to flourish in the nourishing environment that I have provided it with. This is just a way for me to reason with said person whom I have conveniently lost contact with.
After the conversation, I went online and asked strangers what they feel about compiling questionable information about people as a safeguard and after excluding the colourful variants of 'lol faget', the resounding conclusion is that it is acceptable. Perhaps the guise of anonymity has an influence on the answers but I digress.
I asked some people that I know personally for their opinion. Most of them were adamant about how the idea of keeping tabs on someone else is an obvious breach of trust. We must have faith in other people, they said, and leave the rest to fate.
Quite obviously, I disagreed. The main problem people seemed to have revolved around the issue of trust and how we must uphold the sanctity of it but what if we took trust out of the picture?
I'm not trying to justify my stance in the matter but picture this. We take actions to safeguard ourselves from harm all the time, in fact, one might say that not doing so is foolish. We put on hard hats, wear gloves and boots, take our vitamins, have medical checkups and so on. Our safety comes first and it is of paramount value. Now why can't we have the same logic when it comes to said folder? After all, the basis of its existence remains the same; to protect oneself. Trust has nothing to do with it. I might value you as a friend above everyone else but the fact remains that if you decide to one day stab me in the back, I'd like to have some form of protection. If you uphold our friendship, then you wouldn't have anything to worry.
Someone asked me how I'd feel if people kept tabs on me and right now I can safely say that I wouldn't mind, given that said person doesn't misuse what he has. In fact, I have a feeling that things will improve so much if everyone was given the liberty to do just that. People won't fuck each other over without mulling it over for a long time. That'd be grand. Sure, you might say that it makes everyone live in fear but seriously, as opposed to everything that's going on, perhaps we need some fear in us to remind ourselves of the high road.
The point that I agreed on was the discipline needed to not use the information for giggles. The restraint needed to not divulge information or maybe even sell them. From where I stand, it's the only problem with this issue and one that isn't so easily solved.
TL;DR nothing wrong with having a blackmail folder given you don't misuse it.
No comments:
Post a Comment