What's your price?

DH and I discussed this whilst driving today.

He and I both decided that it's a case-by-case issue. And, it would also depend upon the diminishing returns.

Such as: While I am a vegan, I am not so adamant that I'll starve if there is nothing to eat except some sort of animal product (I have an issue with low blood sugar, on occasion). However, you could not pay me to go back to eating animal products on any sort of regular basis (yes, I'll eat a steak for a million dollars. Once. Not once a week. Get it?), as the value of my health and longevity is worth much more to me than the money.

There are circumstances where a person will do things "out of character"... we discussed killing a person. Would I kill someone? Maybe. If I had to kill someone to save someone else (an adult severely hurting/killing a child, for instance), then it might happen. Would I take a job as the person that kills people on death row? Nope - and that's a "legal" killing. I wouldn't even consider murder. Hell, I let my ex live, right? :huh:

DH is the most honest man of integrity I've ever met... and he also felt that it would really just depend on what the principle was, and what the reward was. But, I couldn't imagine him lying for money (he'd be a rotten politician).

 

Not necessarily. On some things, I'm strongly principled. On others, like in the Miss Hayek scenario suggested earlier, not so much.

 

Well, since I wasn't lucky enough to get a huge inheritance and I actually have to work for a living, you could say I sell myself out every single day

Very few of us work in jobs that don't - directly or indirectly - hurt people or the environment or cute cuddly little baby seal pups.

Deal with it

Of the entire global population only about 3.5% can live just like we do. That alone implies a very glaring disparity, especially when you consider consumption of resources

A thread like this is entertaining, but certainly not educational

 

That amazes me too.

We should sit down over coffee and explore that topic much more deeply

 

Oh

Well, in THAT context, $485,000

I prefer cash, primarily in $20 bills, with no more than 20% of bills comprised of $10 and $5 bills. Yes, I do have a means to verify the bills are legitimate - no funny money - and to quickly count the bills

No loonies or "twonies" please. I don't feel like investing in a Medium Duty truck just to cart everything around in. I also don't feel like investing in such a vehicle with the required B6 armour, just to cart money around in

 

I can say I would never sell out my principles because I have had offers and turned them down.

The first one was when I turned 13. My family wanted me to be bar mitzvahed. I said I didn't want to because I didn't believe in it. My grandparents pleaded with me and attempted bribery. My father pointed out the hundreds of dollars (a LOT to a 13-year-old back then) my brother made with his bar mitzvah. I held my ground. My Mom was secretly proud of me for sticking up to my principles, but didn't dare tell me until years later.

In the late 90s I had an incredibly fun job. I was making very good money. I was offered a position where I would have made twice as much but wouldn't have had nearly as much fun - most of my time would have been in really boring meetings. I turned it down.

Those are just two (I mentioned a couple more in an earlier post). So yeah, I have a track record of not selling out.

Addendum: Confession: When living in Silicon Valley, where the male-to-female ratio is about 20 to one, and I was non-voluntarily celibate for about three years, I did have a year-long relationship with an ultraconservative religious bigot. But I don't really consider that selling out.

 

Interesting thought experiment. I think people might be surprised with what they'll do when something is expected of them, regardless of compensation. There was the infamous experiment a few decades ago where random people had to give a shock to a person if they answered questions incorrectly. They couldn't see the person, but they could hear them, and each question raised the electrical wattage, so the person they were shocking was screaming by the end of the test. Most people applied the shocks, even though some questioned why, but few actually quit the test. They didn't realize that the person supposedly receiving shocks was an actor and it was in fact themselves that were under observation. Even the people running the experiment were surprised how many people gave what they thought were harmful electrical shocks to complete strangers, for maybe $5 for their time.

So people who say they cannot be bought or bend on their principles I view with suspicion. People will do things they know they shouldn't just because it is expected of them. Even living in a large home with a carbon-heavy footprint when you know better, but you don't want to appear odd to others or damage your marriage.

As for me, every day is a compromise. The big one of course, is I made a promise when I left northern MN for my first real job (in Texas), that I would be back within 10 years. That never happened - I was planning on it up until I met my future wife, and she persuaded me to stay in Chicago, an area I have no emotional attachment, although it's a good enough place to live. And I get paid better than any job I could find anywhere near my hometown, allowing me to travel and have toys. But I don't have my own 40 acres I can roam around in, or relatives within a reasonable drive.

My previous job was a "survival job". I had been unemployed for some time, and got this opportunity at a place that works on casino equipment. I took it even though it had no socially redeeming value in my mind. But I could pay the mortgage, and eventually I was able to leave it for a much better job under conditions of my choosing.

And how was Selma Hayek picked? Of all the celebrities, she's probably the one I'd have the hardest time turning down. My boss of 25 years ago said he'd never cheat on his wife, unless it was with Dolly Parton. So he knew exactly where his principles would end. His Dolly Parton is probably my Selma Hayek. (There was a good episode of Friends on this topic). Having a son though, makes him paramount. For that, I would not jeopardize my marriage for any amount of money (assuming they weren't starving). If he was kidnapped, I would do whatever was necessary (short of murdering innocent people) to get him back. That would include detestable things like campaigning for Sarah Palin or promoting gas guzzlers or giving people electrical shocks as part of an experiment.

 

I could never understand folks who feel they need a gazillion dollars. If you're thirsty, a glass of water will quench it. Jumping into a swimming pool won't quench your thirst any faster.

If you try to bribe me for $10,000,000, I won't be 10 times more likely to do it (whatever "it" is) than if you bribe me for $1,000,000.

 

Um ... you do know why I would prefer cash, right?

 

The trouble I have with the question is the word "principle" ranges from the extreme of
not using profanity up to the extreme of not committing suicide. The price range covers one cent to no sale.

If the point is that principles are often compromised at a much lower price than claimed, well that's true, but it is also very age dependent. nerfer's example of the shock experiment would have vastly different results in a retirement home than a college, so I don't let that experiment worry me too much.

 

My DH says that I'll do anything for a massage.



Um... well, uh, yeah. If it's a good one. A really good one.

 

i'm still young, and have plenty of fight in me regarding what i think is right vs wrong. also, (and this is a lifetime-first experience for me) i am privileged to not have to worry about how i'm going to pay the bills AND have food at the same time.

however, i am well aware that i am in possession of substantial privileges compared to the average person. hell- i have a job in this crappy economy, this alone is a privilege. if i were not in such a position, i'm sure i would be far more amenable to accepting a corruption of my values in exchange for something i perceived i needed.

in short, i think the circumstances are a huge contributor. back when we were broke down to almost nothing, i would have been easier to sway.

 

Very good.

If I am already expected to - in a literal sense - "sell my soul" than why pay income tax to do so?

 

What do you mean "in case"?

 

I picked her because she was the first one who came to mind when I tried to think of somebody who would fit the bill of "unquestionably hot no matter what your definition of 'hot' was."