http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140806-the-slippery-slope

– The New York Times

“The majority of people are capable of doing something slightly unethical”. Bernie Madoff, who embezzled millions, and Jayson Blair, who plagiarized and fabricated a number of articles for the Times, did not begin their life of fraud with a big bang, but rather, with small and miniscule lies. Studies have told us that as rewards increase, people have more incentive to cheat, and once you submit to temptation, you are on the “slippery-slope’ down to cheatsville before you know it. However, the article suggests that by keeping people in a regulated environment with “clear ethical policies that outline exactly what behavior is right, what’s wrong and the consequences of breaking the rules”, we can prevent this “slippery-slope effect”.

In my opinion, there will always be someone trying to cheat their way through the system no matter what kind of environment you’re in. It’s human nature to want to take a detour to your destination. You can’t predict the future, so sometimes what you thought to be a shortcut might prove to be an obstacle course. If you realize that you are on the wrong course, you can fix the problem right away before it’s too late to turn back. However, no one likes admitting that they are wrong, and thus, we convince ourselves that we are right and continue doing what is wrong. If you lie once, lying a second time is no big deal. Then it’s a third, and a fourth, and eventually lying would become a norm. As a saying I know goes, “you cannot button up a shirt properly if the first button is crooked,” so we must be honest to ourselves and to others around as well, for our society needs to be built on trust in order to run smoothly.