The valuable lesson that lessons weren't learned

A couple of years ago, columnist David Brooks wrote a column about ethics and how ethics is no longer really taught. Many of us who are older grew up and there were a lot of stories that had ethical underpinnings. We belonged to organizations, etc., where the concept of the common good was stressed and there were pretty high demands that people in leadership positions live ethically. We have, from Brooks’ perspective, lost that.

One of the key reasons he said that learning about ethics is important is that ethics enables people to be able to have difficult conversations. Ethics is a subject that is innately complex with a multitude of perspectives and nuances. An understanding of complexity and nuance assists us in grappling with the tough questions in a serious manner.