, Research Paper
Reflective Essay
“Do things because you can, not because you should.” (P.155)
In the book Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin there is a philosophy, in the fake universe, that says that people should do things because they can, not because they should. I think it is basically saying that if we know we can get away with things, go for it. However this philosophy wouldn’t work in a society because everyone would be doing things they’re not supposed to be doing and eventually it would backfire.
This philosophy relates to our lives in many ways. When people know they can cheat and hide it, they sometimes take advantage of it. This doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing to do. When I go to the store and they accidentally sell me something for cheaper than what’s its supposed to be, I usually don’t say anything. Even though I know its wrong, I still do it. Just because we know we can do something and escape it doesn’t always mean it’s the right thing to do.
In society people cheat all the time, and sometimes they don’t even know they are cheating. Taxes would be a great example of this philosophy because many people cheat on their taxes. They do it because they know that there are millions of people who do their taxes every year and it would be almost impossible for the government to find everyone who cheated on their taxes. The Bill Clinton scandal is also a great example of this philosophy because he thought he could conceal what he did, but in the end it went all wrong. Bill Clinton did what he did because he thought he could hide it, but it turned out to be wrong. Cheating is wrong no matter how hard someone tries to disguise it.
This philosophy should not be a part of our society because no matter how we put it, cheating is wrong. You can never accede in life if you cheat all the time. This philosophy would never work out in a real society because it has no morals. It is basically saying that people can do anything, but ultimately that will never work in real life because everything would be a big mess. Society would become phony because people wouldn’t be doing things because they are right, they would do them because it was ok. The quote, which says, “cheaters never prosper” is entirely accurate.