Morality Is Simple, but Not Easy: Hypocrisy Comes Naturally

I’m not sure why I blog, other than that there is something deeply satisfying about putting thoughts to page and getting them out there to an audience, no matter how small, almost immediately.  It comes close to the satisfaction one receives giving a public reading. 

But, like a public reading, it has its drawbacks.  One is it’s difficult to take back what you put out there into the universe.  Of course, this is true with all forms of communication, but because traditional publication is such a long, drawn-out process, with lots of polite rejections prior to acceptance, not to mention the revision dialogue after acceptance, there is lots of time to reflect prior to publication.

Anyway, my previous blog post doesn’t sit well with me.  I used some faulty logic and cheap propaganda techniques, but that’s not what bothers me.  Some things need to be said.  Sometimes it’s better to say something rash, out of anger, than say nothing at all.  What bothers me is that I made a personal attack against someone I absolutely do not know: Gregg Alton, a vice-president for Gilead Sciences Inc.

As a society, we know, unlike Christ, we fall short of perfection—some of us, like Gregg Alton, very short of perfection. 

I have no way of knowing how far short of perfection Gregg Alton falls.  For all I know, he’s a wonderful father, a kind supervisor, and perhaps even very generous with his donations to the community.  And to be honest, if I was a vice president for a drug company that basically developed a miracle drug, I too might be tempted with the following thought:

"We didn't really say, 'We want to charge $1,000 a pill…. We're just looking at what we think was a fair price for the value that we're bringing into the health care system and to the patients."

Although that's a natural human reaction to success, it doesn’t justify the price.  I stand by my claim that in effect Gilead Sciences Inc. is requiring an $84,000 ransom before freeing hostages of Hepatitis C.   That act simply is immoral.

But speaking out against policy and attacking individuals are two very different things.  Though I consider myself overall to be a good person, I have sank to some pretty deplorable acts in my past.  I am in no position to judge the content of character of others. 

Thus, the need to apologize:  My readership is small, and I doubt Greg Alton will ever read my post on Gilead Sciences, Inc. but that doesn’t change the fact that my attack was wrong.

I could erase my previous post, but I don’t want to.  Though flawed, it makes some good points.  So, instead I will attach this to it.    

Hopefully, I learn to reflect a little before hitting the “publish” button and don’t have to do this too often.