Soldierly Honesty (and spies)

Landwalker · 12-12-2009, 09:17 AM

Just for the sake of taking the "conflict of laws" ad absurdum, consider this:

In the United States, the law requires you to drive on the right side of the road.

In the United Kingdom, the law requires you to drive on the left side of the road.

Now, obviously, common sense alone would seem to make this a non-issue. However, as it is being argued here, an Honest American who went to the UK would, in the face of conflicting laws between his home country and the country he is visiting, drive on the right side of the road.

Rolling back to the realm of sensibility, here, I think this can serve as a slightly hyperbolic illustration of why Honesty doesn't mean "Home Laws or Bust". The disadvantage says "You must obey the law." If you're in Great Britain, the law is that you drive on the left side of the road, and if you then catch an African Swallow across the Channel to France, the law is that you drive on the right side of the road. Ultimately, "You must obey the law" means "You must not do anything that would get you arrested if caught."

As far as spies, well, I'm of the opinion that no Honest person would ever voluntarily be a spy, and any Honest person who was involuntarily a spy would be a truly awful one. If you are caught conducting espionage in pretty much any country in the world, you will be at best imprisoned and quite possibly executed. If you're an American spy in Iran, your very existence is illegal.

Cheers.

12-12-2009, 09:17 AM	#15
Landwalker Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Cumberland, ME	Re: Soldierly Honesty (and spies) Just for the sake of taking the "conflict of laws" ad absurdum, consider this: In the United States, the law requires you to drive on the right side of the road. In the United Kingdom, the law requires you to drive on the left side of the road. Now, obviously, common sense alone would seem to make this a non-issue. However, as it is being argued here, an Honest American who went to the UK would, in the face of conflicting laws between his home country and the country he is visiting, drive on the right side of the road. Rolling back to the realm of sensibility, here, I think this can serve as a slightly hyperbolic illustration of why Honesty doesn't mean "Home Laws or Bust". The disadvantage says "You must obey the law." If you're in Great Britain, the law is that you drive on the left side of the road, and if you then catch an African Swallow across the Channel to France, the law is that you drive on the right side of the road. Ultimately, "You must obey the law" means "You must not do anything that would get you arrested if caught." As far as spies, well, I'm of the opinion that no Honest person would ever voluntarily be a spy, and any Honest person who was involuntarily a spy would be a truly awful one. If you are caught conducting espionage in pretty much any country in the world, you will be at best imprisoned and quite possibly executed. If you're an American spy in Iran, your very existence is illegal. Cheers.