Saturday, October 24, 2009

Doing what you do.

I was flicking through the Bronco Bugle (read: Courier Mail) this morning when i came across a large article about Wayne Carey. Apparently his daughter saved his life. He was addicted to drugs, gambling and promiscuous sex, but suddenly he realised that a small child, who is he created and relies on him to live, was more important. Yes Wayne, we're all very proud of you.

The thing that struck me though was the title of the article, which I can only assume was a direct quote from Mr Carey himself. It read something like this:
I knew what I was doing was wrong but I did it anyway.
Here's my problem. People use that line as an excuse, and they think it absolves them of guilt. Firstly, it is not an excuse. Knowing you are doing something wrong does not explain why you did it. In fact, it does the exact opposite. It makes it even more confusing as to why you did it. If you know something is immoral and or illegal, and you do it any way, without a decent medical reason, then you actually end up sounding like a worse person than if you had said nothing. In fact, it may even be better off to say "I didn't know what I was dong was wrong." At least that way you'll just sound ignorant. Doing something you know is wrong just because you want to is the height of selfishness, particularly when you are a father and the things you are doing involve leaving your eight month pregnant wife for an underwear model and then later being arrested for glassing aforementioned model.

Now I have nothing against Wayne Carey per-say (that's a lie, I think he's an arrogant jock who clearly never grew up), my problem is the use of the phrase "I knew what I was doing was wrong." That may be the case Wayne, in fact, I doubt anyone is stupid enough to think that beating up your wife or assaulting a police officer is the right thing to do. However, that does not excuse what you did. Nor does it make you any less guilty.

The line has been used before. Bernie Madoff, the Wall Street investment banker who ran a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded innocent Americans billions of dollars, said he knew what he was doing was wrong. Again, I am inclined to agree. I doubt someone can spend nearly 40 years working in economics and business and not know that fraud is bad. He's clearly not a stupid man, he started his own business, that, despite being a brilliantly executed Ponzi scheme, was very successful. He avoided being noticed for over 20 years. But, the fact that he knew he was in the wrong does not make him any less guilty. It actually makes him more guilty. The two pillars of the justice system is the act, and the intent. For example, if you kill someone, but didn't intend to, you get charged with manslaughter, not murder. So by saying, "I knew what I did was wrong" you are admitting to both the act and the intent. Not a wise move.

Josef Fritzl, Austria's Father of the Year for the years 1977 to 2008 inclusive, also said, "he knew what he was doing was wrong." Really? You knew sexually abusing your own daughter, locking her in a basement for 24 years and fathering seve children with her was wrong? Clever boy. Once again this is neither an excuse nor an absolution of guilt. It seems as if people say this because they think it will endear them to the public. Like people with hear it and go,
"Oh, he knew what he was doing was wrong? Oh, well, that makes a world of difference. I thought he was just a savage who didn't know right from wrong. But clearly he is just a man who got caught up in a bad crowd. He couldn't help it. At least he knew it was wrong."
I don't know about you, but when I hear someone did something even though they knew it was the wrong thing to do, unless they are a comic book superhero, I think, "well, you're an idiot, show some restraint." I don't want to forgive them. That's essentially rewarding stupidity. "Congratulations, you were immoral even though you knew it was a terrible idea. Gold star!"

In closing, here's an idea. If you do the wrong thing, and someone asks you about it, do not, under any circumstances, say "I knew what I was doing was wrong." Try, "I'm sorry." It may not sound like much, but at least it means something.

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