BrandSoul

An ethical dilemma

A dilemma is supposed to be a problem that offers no obvious solution. When it comes to ethics it is quite common to support one ethical judgment or the contrary. You can always be or not to be in favour of abortion. You could even have mixed feelings on the issue. But a dilemma defies common reasoning. You cannot even figure out what the most correct answer to the problem could be.

As unusual as it seems, there's an ethical dilemma happening in the last few months. I refer to the case of Floyd Landis and his supposedly doped victory at the Tour de France 06. Well, it is quite clear that Landis behaviour regarding the use of some kind of doping substance if proved, should be condemned. But from that point on, things start to be more and more obscure.

What should authorities do?

1. Should they declare the Tour 06's winner was Oscar Pereiro? It seems like he deserves it.

2. Should they ask Landis to return the money he earned for being  considered the winner of the race?

3. What about the collateral earnings he enjoyed? What about the collateral money people like Pereiro couldn't earn?

The problem with cycling is just getting more puzzling. Bjarne Rijs the 1996 Tour de France Champion declared last week he used EPO to improve his performance. What should we do now? We should consider he did not win the race? Should we change the whole Tour de France history? And how can we be sure the one who made second did not use some substance too?

The problem is even more difficult to resolve if we compare Rijs' case and Landis'. Landis is being judged severely in public. Rijs has admitted having done the same and nobody asks him to submit from his position. Should Rijs too return the money he earned for winning the Tour 96? And the subsequent earnings derived from that? And why should Landis, then? Rijs has built his prestige on the sole basis of his results at the french race. Should he be removed from his current job, too? Should someone else deserve his position?

Bostonian chronicle I

I had a great time in Boston. Well, great is not the word. Terrific!

I arrived in Boston on tuesday. Weather was awful. The first thing I thought was: I know why they call it New England. I soon caught the subway and installed at the Marriott Hotel in the M.I.T. area. I tried to get in touch with Steve Sherlock but as he was not available, I decided to go for a visit to Harvard Square. It was raining and although I tried to take some photos, the weather did not help much. I came back to the Hotel and surprise...There was Steve Sherlock.

Don't anticipate

It was Gadamer who, in his book Truth and method stated that the basic trait of human understanding is anticipation. I have found sometimes that people tend to anticipate opinions on things they don't really know about. This is particularly painful when we anticipate opinions about people. We always judge people based on the collective types circulating in our social consciousness. Aristotle founded his Ethics on this basis. But it is self limiting to project these arche-types before knowing a person. Some people call to this intuition. But I perfer to call it wrong-intuition. My advice is: go and know the person.

Kobe, MVP?

You judge. But, can anyone else in the league do what Kobe is doing?

By the way, I will be at the Boston Garden for the last game of the regular season. The Celtics play vs Detroit Pistons. I'm looking forawrd to watching Paul Pierce, Al Jefferson and Chauncey Billups live.

I'm going to Harvard

Yes, from April 17-21 I will be in Boston attending the Program on Negotiation at Harvard School of Law. I am looking forward to visiting the city of Boston. I have been talking to some friends who have been living there and they say it is a very beautiful place.

On true love

Last week I wrote a comment to Tom's post on new marketing strategies. You should remember I branded our business age as The age of heartware. As I said before,

I have heard a lot about "love" guiding business and passion driven systems, and that kind of rhetoric. I think most leaders who talk like that don't know a word about it.

Love is not passion. Passion is "falling in love" with an ideal. It is related to the idea of perfection.

Love is asymmetric acceptance, that is the acceptance of what is not perfect. That is, compassion.

As Mauss and Levi Strauss showed in their works on exchange, social life is basically an exchange. And the normal rule is for a exchange to be symmetric. What is extraordinary is the acceptance of an asymmetric exchange. And that is love.

I am currently reading a very nice book called True love, by Thich Nhat Hanh. I like his style, because it reflects a realistic mind and a good heart. This is an interesting quote taken from it:

We know well that suffering helps us to undersatnd, that it nurtures our compassion, and that for this reason it is vitally necessary for us. So we must know how to learn from suffering, we must know how to make use of it to gather the energy of compassion, of love, of understanding.

I don't like suffering, but I like the quote though. I think that true compassion is a big achievement in every person's life. It can definitely change the decisions you will take in the future. And compassion can sometimes be nurtured by suffering. But still the seed of compassion should be planted in your heart.

Bye, bye Pinochet

Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet died yesterday. Despite being one of the most sanguinary dictators that ruled a nation in the XX century he has passed by unjudged for his crimes.

There is the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and the axis of Freedom. But Pinochet has died without responding for his tortures and assasinations. Not only without responding but without being asked, too.

If you still believe justice is a concept of this earth, just think Pinochet...

Stupidities

Esperanza Aguirre,The President of the Regional Government of Madrid has published a biographical book. Among the many stupidities she tells in the book, there is one that is particularly funny. She tells some months her salary is not enough to pay her bills.

As the salary of a politician is always public, we know Esperanza earns 100.000 € / year. This is a high pay for a proffessional in Spain.

I think you have to be very stupid to publicly say you cannot make a living with 100.000 € / year. But you have to be even more stupid if you don't realize citizens and especially critics will publish how much you earn. But the probably reason that explains all this is that some politicians think it is their citizens who are stupid and can be treated as children.

Helping

Yesterday I met a friend of mine I had seen just a couple of times in the last ten years. He told me he needed some legal advice. Can you help me? I said: yes.

I feel very well after helping him. In the last months I have been dealing with some "prestigious" men, people who think they are important and take for granted you consider them important. Some of these guys behaved in an ugly manner.

I feel you can be great doing small things, just by helping others in their lives. That is greatness, too.

Aristotle in Madrid

Next weekend I will be in Madrid to talk about Aristotle's philosophy of fate and virtue. I have been invited by the Spanish Society for Classic Studies and the presentation will take place at the CSIC (Centro Superior de Investigaciones Científicas). If someone is in Madrid next weekend, you know, just send me an e-mail and perhaps we could meet.

I have added some new songs to My Favorite Songs category. I especially like Ricky Nelson's Garden Party for what it says.

"All right now, I learnt my lesson well. See, you can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself".

A big truth. I have experienced it in the last few days.