Jonathan Dodd’s latest column. Guest opinion articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication. Ed
Decisions aren’t difficult. You can get some good advice, ignore your prejudices and fears, and go with what your instinct tells you. Or you can do one of the other things, as in doing what you want, or what will be best for you, or you can ignore all the advice, or you can just snatch at it, which my cricketing friends tell me is the worst thing you can do.
Sadly, these decision-making failings are extremely common, and we have to live with their destructive outcomes all the time. You might wonder sometimes how we manage to get on at all, given the number of bad decisions around. But, luckily, our lives are made considerably better at the same time by other decisions that have been wildly right.
Another of those things they don’t teach you in school
We’re often confused by the whole decision thing. We don’t really know what a decision is, or what it constitutes, and it’s another of those things they don’t teach you in school. I wish they would, because an ability to make good decisions would be close to the top of my list of things that make a good person and a good citizen.
I’d like to think that being a good person and a good citizen would be at the top of most people’s lists too, but it isn’t always the case. Some people have a difficulty with defining what is a good decision or not, because in their world, the idea of “good” might not be the same as in yours or mine.
Removing it to a place of safety
For instance, you might look at the various owners of businesses like BHS, and I expect they might tell you privately that they made very “good” decisions – as in making “good” on their investments by turning as much as they could into cash and removing it to a place of safety. This, invariably, means their own bank accounts, or perhaps the bank accounts of their spouses, who might happen to live in far-flung exotic places.
There’s something very comforting in the phrase “tax haven”. It smells of safety and sanctuary. If you have done so well in life, why should you not congratulate yourself for making such good decisions, as you sip your champagne amongst your fellow jet-setters? Surely this is the mark of success and respectability? And you get to meet so many others just like you. And you get to know a surprising number of politicians too.
Mixing with celebrities in a smart suit
Becoming rich with the proceeds of crime or bad business, or the trafficking of arms or illegal substances or people takes a lot of effort, and involves making lots of hard decisions. The advantage of being rich, no matter how you make your pile, has the side-benefits of apparent respectability, and gaining the flattering attention of many useful people. It does the ego far more good to be photographed mixing with celebrities in a smart suit than in the back of a police van in handcuffs.
At the risk of sounding preachy, I would suggest that all these people are very well aware of the darkness in their hearts, and the corrosive effect of their wrong-doing on their own souls. Of course, they deny it all, and they are experts at that, having spent the whole of their lives justifying and covering up those things they do not want to become known to others. Sometimes they even think they convince themselves, but they’re not kidding anyone.
To live with ourselves and others
There are many of these creatures who walk amongst us. We have lots of recent examples of paedophiles and corrupt police and bankers and businessmen and politicians to remind us of that. And we’re all capable of doing the same thing, if only in smaller ways. Little infidelities, avoiding blame, avoiding the truth, etc. Our small sins are many, and we feel bad about them. 
Luckily for most of us, they are minor enough to allow us to live with ourselves and others, knowing that nobody’s perfect, and we’re trying hard to do the right thing.
Decision-making is closely related to all this. You need to be aware as much as possible of who will be affected by your decision. In the case of which pair of trousers to wear to a party, it’s plainly only yourself. If your urge is to go to war, it might affect a lot of people, even fatally. In the case of criminal acts or business malpractice, a lot of people might be ruined or lose their jobs.
To put the general good above your own
Even doing nothing could have serious consequences. Before the Great Crash, most people genuinely had no idea what was coming. There were people who did know, or at least suspect. Some chose to make use of it to make themselves rich, or even richer. Some kept their heads down and said nothing. Some did indeed try to make the world aware of the precipice it was approaching, but either their voices were not listened to or they were ignored.
Of all the people who were in a position to know, the people who tried to raise the alarm are the only ones who behaved well at that time. Knowing what was coming and taking advantage of it was beyond despicable. Knowing and doing nothing was not much better. Our decision-making must contain an element of information, and expertise is helpful, but the most important elements are an understanding of right and wrong, and the ability to put the general good above your own.
That wilderness is a lonely and dangerous place
Acting for the general good is often the hardest path, I know, and we’ve all heard stories of that lone voice crying in the wilderness. That wilderness is a lonely and dangerous place, but knowing that the alternatives may be easier or less painful is no excuse. Not when people’s lives or livelihoods are at risk. And the consequences of that kind of guilt can be personally devastating. We must be kind, and have courage.
We praise people who work for the general good. We idolise our important services like police and firemen and the NHS and schools, but we’re never willing to give them everything they need to do their jobs really well, and then we criticise them for under-performing and we wonder why they can’t attract enough people to fill their vacancies. But in general we approve of them and we’re grateful for their efforts.
Blessed are the whistle-blowers
Unfortunately, we have a habit of vilifying whistle-blowers. Somehow we still worship that ridiculous bully’s tactic of sneering at someone who snitches. Hospital workers are sacked for speaking out, and it’s more than your life’s worth to criticise your superiors if you’re in the armed forces or the police. Internet whistle-blowers end up in prison or exile. I don’t know why we persist in stubbornly loathing the person who’s brave enough to expose wrongdoing.
Even worse, we do very little to discourage those who pursue their own power and riches by cutting corners and getting away with illegal or immoral practices. We surround the Krays and their like with a sheen of glamour, we welcome oligarchs and their murky money to buy our expensive London properties and football clubs, we give honours and positions of power to many whose lifestyles or business dealings don’t bear close scrutiny, and we spend a lot of money propping up dubious regimes in various parts of the world, before they get too big for their boots and require removing through yet another war.
As often as twenty-five times per second
Sometimes good decisions are made for good reasons. For instance, inviting Churchill to lead the war effort in the last century was effective. Voting him out at the end of the war and bringing in a government who would introduce the welfare state, the NHS, and vastly increased education and social services was also a good decision. It was no slap in the face for Churchill. He was a great war leader, but he lacked the vision or patience for peacetime social change.
So every time you have to make a decision, which could even be as often as twenty-five times per second, you could do worse than trusting your honesty and integrity and good sense. If you don’t think you have any of these, you’re wrong, because you do. Maybe you can decide to reacquaint yourself with them again. They used to be your best friends. It’s never too late.
If you have made been, thank you for making the decision to read this.
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