I am wondering whether perhaps I could have a Lolly for breakfast, I say.

No, says the Owner.

Why not? I ask.

Those are the Rules, says the Owner.

One can be too Pedantic about Rules, I say.

I think you are thinking of Guidance, says the Owner. Whether or not the Moral Dog can run in the Park is subject to Guidance. One can be Too Pedantic about Guidance. Whether the Moral Dog can have a Lolly for Breakfast is subject to Rules. One can never be Too Pedantic about Rules. 

Are Rules not meant to be Flexible? I ask.

No, says the Owner.

Not even if one is Very Clever, and can explain why One is an Exception to the Rules? I ask.

No, says the Owner. Rules do not have Exceptions, only Slippery Eels would say Otherwise.

What if One has a Very Good Reason and Nobody would Know? I ask.

A Slippery Eel may well disobey the Rules for reasons he, in his Slippery Eelness, considers Very Good, says the Owner, but unless he has a Moral Reason that is Sufficient to outweigh the needs of all those that the Rules Protect, he has committed a Moral Wrong.

What if he thought it was Best for him? I ask.

Rules apply to Everyone, says the Owner. Sometimes we must act as a Community. The Individual Sacrifices the Freedom to Choose for the sake of the rest.

I do not see what difference it would make to the Protection of Others if I had just One Morning Lolly, I say. There is only One of me, I say, It is only One Lolly, I say.

Imagine, says the Owner, if all of us decided we were an Exception to the Rules. What would happen then?

I suppose there would be no Rules, I say, but I would have a Lolly.

There would also be no Community, says the Owner. The reason we obey Rules is not just to protect those in the Community, it is to protect the Community itself.

So if I had a Lolly Anarchy would reign? I ask.

Maybe not, says the Owner, but you would have Harmed Solidarity, and in times of trouble that is the most valuable thing we have.

So you are saying that if we wish to be in a Community then Solidarity is more important than our Personal Choices, however Exceptional we think we are, I say.

I am saying that if those in Charge of us do not show Solidarity with us then they have Failed us Miserably, says the Owner.

I knew you would make this about Dominic Cummings, I say.

The Moral Dog, says the Owner, is so Astute.

Categories: dignity dog dog philosophy

Hergest the Hound

I am a dog of many thoughts.