Yesterday’s collegial breakfast was well attended in that when I arrived, not late, all the seat of the standard table were already taken! However, a small table was added as John and Barry showed up after me.

It is interesting to hear the different stories as to how retired life is for these various old colleagues of mine. Some stay home, others travel to the ends of the earth in the comfort of cruise ships, while others again are happy to travel locally in the summer here and down South in the winter.

I traveled my stint in the years 1999 to 2003, with the occasional trip in 2005 and later. My Old Country adventure - 1999-2003 - was of an psychological and personal nature, about an internal nature experience, rather than one of experiencing earth’s external Natural beauty.

I have not much desire to spend time on a cruise, but would rather live in a city like New Delhi, Hong Kong or Alexandria for some time, for say a year. I mention those three, because I would be able to make do with English. Some knowledge of the local ‘patois’ is required though, for a full and meaning full experience. My month in Berlin - August 1999 - was a bit like that, where I used my rusty German language skills and upgraded them as I went.

I am still working with the idea that ethics redeems consciousness, while consciousness redeems the unknown and unconscious. Ethics is of course a human invention like no other and predates any discoveries of order and language, I venture.

To say that ethics redeems consciousness is a powerful idea, because it puts paid to the notion that science and technology applications are exempt from ethical and moral considerations. This is a claim made by the powers that be, when it comes to questions of ethics in the design of say cluster bombs or the operation of armed drones and now also robots.

Furthermore, also the consequences of certain economic policies, such as ‘liberalisation’ and deregulations require the test of due diligence with respect to morals and ethics. After all, wars are fought, revolutions battled and people killed over access to resources or a fair share for the local economies.

It all comes down to what kind of notions that we put into our basket of values! And, human handed down traditions have a thing or two to say about that, based on our prior experience as humans.

Ethics and morals considerations are of course implicit in much every day decision making, but they are not always given the ‘right of place’ as I like to call that. Ethics and morals are management rules, standards and criteria, just like efficiency and making profits are.

In today’s decision making processes we make room for environmental considerations and we should do no less for the human considerations of ethics. “Is it ethical to increase profits by means of paying less than subsistence wages?” - to put in such a minimalist manner.

A more reasonable question is: “How is the income from resource development equitably shared with the people whose land holds such resources?” If we maximise the profits for the share holders, why not also the benefits for the resource holders?

Economic policy and weapon design are examples of conscious processes to which ethics must be applied, if our behaviour is to be morally justifiable. There will be people and powers which will disagree with this position, but at least then we can be clear about what they are avoiding and look for the ulterior motives, which could be as simple as the seeking of personal benefits.

It all comes down to what kind of notions that we put into our basket of values! And, human handed down traditions have a thing or two to say about that, based on our prior experience as humans.
<9:19am~