issue212

jessicamarineUID: 2595044

TOPIC: ISSUE212 - "If a goal is worthy, then any means taken to attain it is justifiable."
WORDS: 545

提纲：衡量权重定worthy， 道德责任方justifiable.
It is generally true that the fighting spirit of taking all means to achieve ones goal is appreciable. However, not any sounding nice goal is worthy to pursue, not any means to achieve is justifiable.
Both the definition of “worthy” and “justifiable” seem to be too vague, varying with different situations. So, when we take this issue thoroughly, several critical questions have to be addressed. What is worthy at all? What is justifiable? If one thing is worthy and the means one take to achieve it is is justifiable to one self, would it be the same to others, or even to the society?
Firstly, when we consider whether a goal is worthy or not, we must weigh the gain and loss quite cautiously. Not any sounding good goal is worthy to anyone. Everyone has his or her own strengths and weak points, favors and hates; everyone has their own environment and chances. Only when we analysis these factors synthetically could we make reasonable decisions. Take a easy example, there is a math competition now, for those math is not too bad and who is interesting in math modeling, too, preparation would cost some energy, but more importantly they will gain new math methods and improve their thinking on a great degree. However, for those who not only awkward in math but also hate math, they may need to escape most classes and sacrifice their entertainment, missing the chances for other things, but possible is it that they are just too far from that goal, and finally fail to gain back. Then, is the competition worthy for the latter part as well? Of course, not. So, considering whether one goal is worthy or not, we must thoroughly think about how far the goal is, how much the loss would probably be, and how much gain we would probably get. Only when the gains overweight the loss, may we say the goal is worthy, and the means to attain it is justifiable.
Why just "may"?
Because as responsible civilian or nation, one could not only think about itself, the impact it would have on others must be cautiously considered. Though I admit that everything we do would not always have good effects on others, at least what we do should not damage the society or even break the ethics. For example, making money sounds to be worthy and justifiable, but if that means defrauding, thieving, damaging the benefits of the whole country, would that be worthy and justifiable still? For a nation, to supply its people sufficient energy and resources seems to be unquestionable worthy and justifiable, however, if that means wars, killing, exploiting, vanishing humanities, etc, would that still be worthy and justifiable? Hitler determined to prove the wisdom of German and Germany desired to develop, that was a good intention at first, but sadly, Hitler killed the Jewish to achieve his goal, Germany broke wars around the world for its so-called development. Will any conscious human being advocate that humanity milling behavior as worthy and justifiable? None, I dare to say.
To sum up, goal is worthy only when the gain overweight the loss, means to achieve it is justifiable only when we took responsible views not only for ourselves but also for others.