As a was-business-major-now-liberal-arts-major, I am particularly familiar with the moral plight behind choosing to be a good person or making lots of money.
Often times mutually exclusive, the two choices have presented themselves to me in various ways, and I am always left stumped. My personal transition from business to liberal arts had little to do with it, but even as I move forward in the literary industries, I find myself asking the same questions.
Is there any industry that truly values integrity?
How can you network without feeling dirty and disingenuous?
Why do nonprofit workers barely make a living?
Why can't we reward the good people of the world, in a way that will actually make a difference in their lives?
Maybe you aren't having the same dilemma. Maybe yours is that you have to choose between making hundreds of thousands of dollars as a corporate lawyer, or working pro-bono and not being able to afford rent.
Maybe you have to choose between dealing with the degrading and sexist voyeuristic attitudes in the entertainment industry so you can get the gig you need, or saying something and not getting the gig at all.
Maybe your situation is different, and the questions you ask aren't nearly as dramatic.
In the end, though—you're still having to choose between your integrity or the job opportunity, the stability, the recognition, the money. Because these things aren't offered to those who want to be honest.
I may be naive, and I may not understand 'the real world,' but why is it that 'the real world' can't afford these decencies?
I'm not here to flex my morality, or sit on a high horse and point fingers at the soulless and the rich (even though I do sometimes). I am here, however, in search of a fulfilling career that allows an opportunity for growth, without having to exploit others in hopes of it, without having to exploit myself in hopes of it, without having to compromise my beliefs in hopes of it.
I value honesty, and I value the respect that's accompanied by it.
I'm pursuing a degree in journalism, I hope to one day be a published author, I hope to one day direct a movie, be a lawyer, work for a startup, be a politician. Countless things I am hoping for, but will I be able to accomplish any of them, without having to give up some part of the respect I have for myself?
Without having to give up my honesty?
Perhaps living through it might impart the advice I am looking for now, perhaps in a few years, I might be able to tell you whether it is possible. I have an inkling feeling though, that it won't be.
