<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title></title><style type="text/css">#qt p.qt-MsoNormal{margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri", sans-serif;}
p.MsoNormal,p.MsoNoSpacing{margin:0}</style></head><body><div style="font-family:Arial;">One should be precise when asking a question, and I find I was not.<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">The first ethical dilemma is that I would have to <b><i>knowingly lie</i></b> about my "fear" of contracting COVID at work. I know I am at greater risk but that has not and likely will not translate into "fear."<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">The second ethical dilemma arises from the fact that I would be, almost, literally irreplaceable — unemployment benefits are a huge disincentive to workiong. So those I left behind will suffer some serious negative impacts, assuming my hours and increasing their own exposure to disease. Ethics of loyalty, friendship, compassion for others????<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">A third issue: if I inspired even one other colleague to follow my example, the store likely would have to close with negative impacts on the community as well as the other employees.<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">One might make a case that the only ethical thing for me to do would be to leave and take as many as my colleagues with me in hopes that the Canadian company that owns the story would raise their wages scale to $15+ an hour. This would harm nothing except their corporate profits and would benefit both the community and all the employees. Unlikely to happen, but the ethical argument could be made.<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">PS Nick: yes, I would be lonely, but that is a pandemic condition during the pandemic.<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">PPS poets: Richard Gabriel, Ph.D. Computer Science, MFA Poetry, creator of a poetry writing AI — told me that Haiku cannot be written in English, or any non-ideographic language, because meter provides only syntax, and misses the semantic point.<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">davew<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div>On Fri, Feb 5, 2021, at 9:03 AM, <a href="mailto:thompnickson2@gmail.com">thompnickson2@gmail.com</a> wrote:<br></div><blockquote type="cite" id="qt" style="overflow-wrap:break-word;"><div class="qt-WordSection1"><p class="qt-MsoNormal">Dave,<br></p><p class="qt-MsoNormal"> <br></p><p class="qt-MsoNormal">Wouldn’t you be lonely?<br></p><p class="qt-MsoNormal"> <br></p><p class="qt-MsoNormal">N<br></p><p class="qt-MsoNormal"> <br></p><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal">Nick Thompson<br></p><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:ThompNickSon2@gmail.com">ThompNickSon2@gmail.com</a><br></p><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><a href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/</a><br></p></div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"> <br></p><div><div style="border-right-color:currentcolor;border-right-style:none;border-right-width:medium;border-bottom-color:currentcolor;border-bottom-style:none;border-bottom-width:medium;border-left-color:currentcolor;border-left-style:none;border-left-width:medium;border-image-outset:0;border-image-repeat:stretch;border-image-slice:100%;border-image-source:none;border-image-width:1;border-top-color:rgb(225, 225, 225);border-top-style:solid;border-top-width:1pt;padding-top:3pt;padding-right:0in;padding-bottom:0in;padding-left:0in;"><p class="qt-MsoNormal"></p><div><b>From:</b> Friam <friam-bounces@redfish.com> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Prof David West<br></div><div><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, February 4, 2021 9:15 PM<br></div><div><b>To:</b> friam@redfish.com<br></div><div><b>Subject:</b> [FRIAM] ethical dilemma<br></div><p></p></div></div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"> <br></p><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;">Biden's COVID relief bill includes $400/week unemployment benefits until September. </span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;"> </span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;">Normally, if you voluntarily quit a job, you are not eligible for unemployment benefits. However, a person can qualify for these benefits if they quit because they "fear' contracting COVID at their job.</span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;"> </span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;">I <b><u>know</u></b> that my job has an enhanced risk for contracting COVID.</span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;"> </span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;">So should I quit and earn 400/wk for the next six months — tax free.</span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;"> </span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;">Or continue earning 300/week that is taxed.</span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;"> </span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;">No one but myself would ever know if I "feared" contracting COVID at that job</span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;"> </span></span><br></p></div><div><p class="qt-MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="font" style="font-family:"Arial", sans-serif;">davew</span></span><br></p></div></div><div>- .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. .<br></div><div>FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv<br></div><div>Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 <a href="http://bit.ly/virtualfriam">bit.ly/virtualfriam</a><br></div><div>un/subscribe <a href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a><br></div><div>FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a><br></div><div>archives: <a href="http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/">http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/</a><br></div><div><br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div></body></html>