Role Models

Everyone one of us is a role model, whether we want to be or not. What we say and do necessarily affects both those around us and in the world in general. There's simply no way past that.

You can argue that your life choices are yours to make, and in the strictest sense they most certainly are. Yet when you do something which is wrong, you're teaching by inference that it is in fact right. When the next person tries to do it their first defense is going to be, well, so-and-so did it, and he seems like an ok guy. The day will come when a given evil act is seen as good merely because other folks have seen you (and a great many others) do it.

It can work the other way too, of course. That's part of the reason we encourage morally good actions. What gets me is that people don't want to see it that other way. I think they're sides of a coin, so to speak. If good act promotes good things then bad acts will cause more bad. It's a pretty basic idea.

That's why we as a society cannot back away from calling what seem to be purely individual preferences good or bad. There's no such as living your life your own way without the price of causing others to emulate you. And you're responsible for that, whether it's leading astray or towards goodwill. It just ain't all about you. You are a role model. You must consider that in whatever you do.