The Morality of Honesty: When Lies Can Benefit You

Honesty: it is oftentimes looked upon as one of the pivotal pillars of human society, and to a great extent, it is. A diplomatic leader who takes advantage of those below him through deceitful actions quickly declines in the eyes of his subordinates and inevitably becomes a sacrifice to satisfy their desires. A dishonest salesman incurs the wrath of those he cheats upon the discovery of the deception of his words. A civilian who steals from his neighbors while feigning an air of decency generates in those around him a permanent sense of worriment or apprehension for their innocent companions. Dishonesty almost always leads to anger which stirs about chaos, and that chaos brings about the destruction of society. However, the most important aspect of dishonesty remains that it only almost always lead to anger; despite the impact of large-scale dishonesty, a small lie or stretch of truth possibly brings others incalculable ecstasy.

People are uncontrollably attracted to merchandise obtainable without a deduction from their pockets. Such being the case, there exists a great temptation--when that craving for dessert at one's favorite restaurant becomes unbearable--to manipulate the employees into providing a free treat. Whether or not a member of the dining party's birthday occurs on that day becomes entirely irrelevant. Greed and insatiable cravings lead people to lie in those situations without feeling an inkling of remorse; but, unlike the politician, salesman, and neighbor, there are no negative repercussions from the decision to attain a free birthday cake. Conversely, the liar receives the luxury of free foodstuffs, which elates them, and the diner receives the joy of knowing--rather, of believing--they made someone's birthday special. What's more, employees at every diner have familiarized themselves with this very prompt. Each is aware of the possibility that they've been lied to for the sake of a pastry, but they accept that fact nonetheless. Perhaps that acceptance also arises from the idea that the server is overjoyed at the prospect of bringing joy to another. Either way, diners don't require confirmation of one's date of birth before providing a free cake; thus, they intentionally leave themselves vulnerable to the possibility of being cheated. In this situation, the establishment gives no remedy to the possibility that people, of both virtuous and despicable nature, shall take advantage of their generosity. For the sake of receiving a free cake, dishonesty becomes the best policy.

With the realization of dishonesty as the most profitable means of attaining a free birthday cake, one can no longer debate honesty as a practice that has definite positive results with its implementation. However, the most crucial aspect of the study of honesty as opposed to dishonesty in the morality of the issue. While honesty may not be the best policy in receiving a free birthday pastry, it certainly remains the best policy if one wishes to preserve the integrity of their established morality. When applied to the same situation, the presence of morality adds a different dimension: can one maintain positive (however one wishes to identify "positive" when dealing with morality) morality if they choose to mislead another in attempting to acquire a good or service from them. Simply put, no. Honesty is a practice heavily associated with positive morals; conversely, dishonesty represents negative morality. The true statement then reforms as follows: morality is the best policy, but morality won't get your friend free birthday cake at the diner, in which case morality is both the best policy and has a possibility of earning you high regards from the employee serving you. Displays of healthy morals, including good manners, a generous tip, a respectful attitude towards an employee, and honesty (suppose a server mistakenly informs you that they brought the wrong dish and insists on providing you with an additional meal free of charge and you decline the offer, properly explaining the misunderstanding can prompt them to act favorably towards you which includes an inclination for them to provide you free goods.

Honesty, when one completely considers the results of its implementation, may not always be the best policy and won't get that birthday cake you so desire. However, the morality associated with honesty is, without divulging too far into scenarios concerning its implementation, the best policy and has a far greater possibility of earning you treats from the diner employees. Dishonesty sends one along the path of detestable morality, which completely eliminates them from many possibilities of benefits throughout life--after all, whether or not you manage to cheat your way into getting your friend a free pastry, the increase in your comfort with insincerity will surely lead you somewhere unfavorable.