This illustrates why I've often stated that absolute morality
(simplistic right vs wrong) doesn't exist, it is but a naïve fool's
delusion, for there is only ethics, cosmoethics and karma, which
exists for all actions without judgement.
Today's episode of Madam Secretary Season 1 Episode 6 :
http://africansuntimes.com/2014/10/cbss-madam-secretary-republic-west-africa-au-african-union/
Today's episode's ethical dilemma (happens every episode, that's
what this job, and the job of every president and prime ministers
is about), involves a fictitious African country in which the
ruling junta government is about to commit mass genocide against a
particular (fictitious) ethnic minority known as the 'Beko' (there
are thousands of different African ethnic races, even if outsiders
callously lump them all as 'Africans' based on their skin
color).
A Beko African Christian Priest (who was once the teacher of
Madam Secretary's husband decades ago) uses her husband as an
unofficial channel to seek help from Madam Secretary, who informs
the President of the matter, who declines to intervene militarily
(always costly in more ways than one) in that country's internal
affairs, as the US has little vital interests or assets in that
country.
Her ethical dilemma then, is to risk her career (as Secretary of
State) and go above the President's head (ie. without his consent)
to make an impassioned plea to the United Nations, to take action
save the 50,000 Beko Africans who are about to be murdered.
This works to convince not only some of the other countries in
the UN (specifically France, as well as the the African Union a
coalition of African countries machiam ASEAN but for Africa, to
take military action and send their troops into the country), but
even the US President himself (who is now willing to backup the
operation with logistical support, but no ground troops).
But this is only midway through the episode, so of course this
isn't the end of the story, and some cockup is gonna manifest
promptly. Which turns out to be : the Beko African Christian Priest
is revealed to be a drug smuggler, using his Beko refugees to cross
borders to smuggle drugs to Europe. This revelation causes the
French government to angrily pull out of the rescue operation.
Madam Secretary's husband angrily confronts the Priest, who
defends himself, saying making such smuggling deals with the Drug
Lords (who own their own private militaries and control the land
routes which the refugees must take), is the only way to save his
Beko people, allowing them to safely pass through the Drug Lords'
territories.
Madam Secretary's husband says, "What about the millions of drug
abusers around the world who will die from the drug trade?". The
Priest says, "They willingly choose to take drugs, but my Beko
people have no choice in their genocide."
In other words, the lesser of two evils, this is the only way to
save his people, so even if it's immoral / unethical in some other
way, but as far as saving lives, which is the highest moral /
ethical priority and importance, and the Priest's holy duty, then
all things considered, this is still the correct moral / ethical
thing to do, the lesser of 2 evils, cutting deals with the Drug
Lords to save lives.
But that's not all, things take a desperate turn when the CIA
informs them the genocidal junta government has paid hundreds of
thousands of dollars to the Drug Lords, to use their private
militaries to block the African Union troops sent in to protect the
Beko people. Madam Secretary instructs the CIA to attempt to bribe
the Drug Lords to release the blockade, but the CIA operative's
"dead body just turned up on YouTube" (ie. killed by either the
Drug Lords or the Junta Govt).
Madam Secretary and her husband discuss this desperate
situation, and her husband reluctantly re-contacts the Priest (they
earlier both parted on angry non-speaking terms), telling the
Priest the US Govt will unofficially pay millions of dollars to the
Drug Lords (and again, there you go, another example of the lesser
of 2 evils moral / ethical dilemma, generously funding the evil
Drug Cartel bad guys to help you against eviler and badder
Genocidal Junta Government guys) through the Priest, to bribe the
Drug Lords to release the blockade, to save the 50,000 Beko African
people from mass genocide.
And it works (ie. money works, as always). The 50,000 Beko
African people are saved, moved to tears and grateful to be alive,
rescued from their extreme near-deaths.
While this was a fictitious episodal story, but such TV dramas
(Madam Secretary is an excellent series, even Dr House featured
such an episode involving ethical dilemma over whether
to intervene in an upcoming mass genocide in Africa, and the
Darth Vader actor was the genocidal president in
this episode, and while Dr Cameron was the vocal one speaking out
against the genocide and Dr Chase didn't initially want to get
involved, in the end she didn't have the guts to assassinate Darth
Vader, and it was Dr Chase who, upon realizing the mass genocide
was really gonna happen, assassinated Darth Vader, and the KNN
coconaden thing is, when Dr Cameron found out Dr Chase carried out
the assassination / murder, she couldn't accept it and immediately
divorced poor Dr Chase who fell into depression (from both the
assassination and the divorce), even though he carried out the
assassination / murder for the greater moral / ethical good to save
hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, great episode from Dr
House) and movies like these, are based on real-life historical
accounts of mass genocides and the behind-the-curtains work of
courageous people across agencies and countries that the public
will never know of.
