Kissing Butt and ethics

[HydrogenBond]

This is sort of a silly but provocative topic. Everyone, from all walks of life, have witnessed how a good butt kisser can use that skill to advance their grades, career or agenda. It is a skill that takes practice, as well as the investment of time to be fully affective. The question is, is butt kissing a violation of ethics?

One way to look at butt kissing is that it is a form of bribery that can be used to recieve a kick-back. The kickback is often special consideration. In essense it is not much different than giving cash or merchandise with the hope of recieving a more favorable shake. In both cases, the butt kisser and the butt kissee are working a private deal, that benefits both, often at the expense of an objective evaluation of merit.

I my experience, people who are full of crap, need constant cleaning by a good butt kisser because they leak crap. A good butt cleaning makes them smell less crappy. For example, the leader of N Korea, needs a constant barrage of butt cleaning to keep him believing he is as qualified as he thinks he is. Without that constant cleaning, he would begin to smell his own crap, as would others.

Based on that observation, maybe those who accept butt cleanings are really not that qualified for the job. They may have cleaned butt in their younger days and used the kickback to reach a position beyond their merit and ability. To make sure their stink doesn't permeate the office, they need to find themsleves a good butt cleaner. In other words, their are certain type of people how like their butt kissed. These are one's that are targeted by the butt kissers, because they can be brided by it.

This gets back to the point, in a world that stresses ethics, are butt cleaners and butt cleanees, violating the rules of ethics, since this behavior is a type of bride/kickback dynamics?

[InfiniteNow]

This is silly and provocative, but I like it. I'd say, however, that the ethics issue resides with the individual who is influenced by such actions, not the individual seeking gain from them.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by HydrogenBond

This gets back to the point, in a world that stresses ethics, are butt cleaners and butt cleanees, violating the rules of ethics, since this behavior is a type of bride/kickback dynamics?

In a world where butt-kissing may equate to flattery, I ran across this Ben Franklin quote which ostensibly establishes butt-kissing as an ethical as well as pragmatic practice.

"For as people say when they are angry: 'If he strikes me, I'll strike him again'; I sometimers think it might be right to say :'If he flatters me, I'll flatter him again.'" - Ben Franklin

Moreover, to paraphrase an expression, "It is not knowing how to kiss a butt that counts, but whose butt to kiss and when."

[Jay-qu]

I think in some ways it can be manipulative and even sly.. The best way to combat it is to have a good eye for it :glasses: Some people are so bad at it that just listening to it makes me cringe

[ronthepon]

Butt kissing may not be the 'right' thing to do, but it is a way of living life, the kind of thing that'll get you 'naturally selected' in life.

I've changed schools a couple of times, and mild butt-kissing helps me get set up in no time.

From what I've faces in life I'd say: yes, the those getting kissed need to be kissed, else they do begin to smell themselves.

[Zythryn]

Interesting topic
Is there anything between being rude and butt-kissing?
Is showing respect 'butt-kissing'?
To me, butt-kissing means; giving undeserved flattery. Is that accurate for the purposes of this topic?

[ronthepon]

Undeserving flattery to the greatest magnitude. To drop all preserval attempts of self respect while doing so.

[Zythryn]

Yeah, that gets very ugly very fast.
Luckily, I rarely see those people get the number one postion. They tend not to be qualified as their primary skill is stroking the 'ego' of number one.

[CraigD]

Originally Posted by HydrogenBond

… in a world that stresses ethics, are butt cleaners and butt cleanees, violating the rules of ethics, since this behavior is a type of bride/kickback dynamics?

A bribe/kickback scheme is a sort of illegal contract. In most butt-kissing-friendly environments, such contracts aren’t actually illegal, so I don’t think it can be condemned on this basis.

It is, however, profoundly dishonest. The butt kisser knows the butt kissee is unworthy of an honest complement, while the butt kissee knows the butt kisser knows he or she is unworthy. The perpetuation of such dishonesty borders upon delusional.

There are certainly people worthy of admiration. Complimenting such people can serve to let them know that you understand and appreciate their worth, which may result in them reciprocally considering, understanding, and appreciating yours. To some, this may appear to be mutual brown-nosing, but I consider it as a healthy and respecting.

In my life, I’ve witnessed the sort of egregious butt slurping HBond describes. The major ethical challenge this poses to me is deciding how far I’m willing to go to see such folk brought low. On many occasions, I’ve allowed such folk to “dig their own graves” by drawing attention to promises they make, and can’t keep. On a few, I believe I’ve crossed to the bad side of the ethical line, and engaged in skullduggery and dirty tricks to accelerate their downfall. On more occasions than I like to admit, I’ve cowered in the background and allowed the orgy of butt kissing to go on unabated.

The other ethical challenge raised by butt kissing is when I’m pursuing something I believe to be good, both for myself and the world, but my path is barred by a butt that must be kissed before it will let me pass. Though It makes me guilty of being “part of the problem” of dishonest flattery, in these situations I generally “get out the chap stick and pucker up”.

[Tranquility]

Flattery is a universal tactic used by all people. The attempt to make the other like you is both natural and entierly ethical. Only someone who has some psychological condition preventing them from understand or engaging in such behaviour (such as autistics and schizoids) is harmed by this behaviour, but societal ethics cannot be determined in relation to minorities, but must rather be broadly agreed upon by a society as a whole.