Having the Courage of Your Convictions

In a recent letter to Hawaii Business, wealth guru and author Robert Kiyosaki questioned the relevance of what I write in this column to the readers of a business publication. His question is one I think about each month as I try to write something interesting and useful to our readers about issues that matter to me. I do strive to find topics of common interest that spring out of our shared experiences of living and working in Hawaii.

I also worry about offending readers with provocative issues, but sometimes they’re the ones that need to be discussed most. For example, there is the recent decision of a local boy, Army 1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada, to refuse to deploy with his unit to Iraq because he believes it is an illegal war based upon lies and deception by our government. His decision, not surprisingly, evokes strong public reaction ranging from those who believe he’s a coward and a deserter to those who believe he’s a hero. Since he has not fled the country or gone into hiding but reports for duty each day, he’s certainly not a deserter, and whether he’s a coward or a hero is not the issue here. The question is whether we can learn anything from his decision.

With all the recent news about ethical and moral lapses in corporate boardrooms, government offices, and on Iraqi battlefields, it’s time to re-think what we teach our children about principles, values and doing the right thing. Knowing right from wrong, however, is not always enough; after all, the Enron executives, the people who make and accept illegal campaign contributions, and the soldiers who commit atrocities in wartime all know right from wrong. What they’re lacking, it seems, is the courage or backbone to actually do right. How can we teach our children to have such courage?

Now Lt. Watada’s decision triggered my own long forgotten memory. Thirty years ago I was a new Marine officer at the time of the first oil crisis when the lines at gas pumps had people talking about the U.S. invading a Middle Eastern country to take its oil. I’d joined the Marines because I wanted to serve my country but that didn’t include attacking another country for its oil, and I wondered what I’d do if I were ordered to do that. Would I go, or would I, as an act of conscience and principle, refuse to deploy and risk court-martial, a dishonorable discharge, jail time, and a lifetime of stigma just because I thought it was wrong? Fortunately, I never had to make the choice, and I frankly don’t know what I would have done. But Lt. Watada did.

In a world where good people can easily find themselves in ethically challenging situations where it is easier and perhaps even rewarding simply to go with the flow and not make waves—to keep quiet about corporate or government wrongdoing and maybe become enriched from it, or to close their eyes to atrocities against civilians and protect their buddies—perhaps we should respect rather than condemn those who are willing to take a principled, though unpopular, stand on important issues and face the consequences. Otherwise, how do we teach our children to stand up for what they believe?

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