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| Cook Islands currency. This story didn't unfold in the Cook Islands but their money is certainly stunning. |
We stumbled across this news piece and were floored.
Does love have a price? We may be showing our age here but back in 1993 there
was a film starring Robert Redford and Demi Moore called Indecent Proposal. Remember that one? Some rich dude offers a
couple a million dollars for a romantic night with his wife. It’s an
interesting if uncommon ethical dilemma. They take a utilitarian approach,
weigh up the costs and benefits, think they can hack any negative consequences
and off they go. Of course it turns out that life is a bit more complicated
than that (and as every ethicist knows, one downside of a utilitarian approach
is that we can be awfully wrong when it comes to predicting consequences).
So what if a wealthy person turned up to your open
house and offered you $140,000 for your cat? They’ve just paid over 2 million
for the house, you may not be in need, but $140,000 might be nice, right?
One family thought so. The thing about this story is that the cat wasn't for sale. But, knowing that "everything has a price", the buyer of their house offered
them another 140K in exchange for their family cat Tiffany. They decided to take
the cash and leave the cat. Their 19-year-old son wasn’t too pleased. After
all, he bought the cat himself.
But in the Sun
Herald article mum justifies the decision thus:
“We’re thinking we’ll put $20,000 in a pile next to the
cat and say to Sam: you choose.”
Interesting. Is this family selling the right values to
their son? What about the family who purchased the cat for their child - will that child grow up thinking love can be bought? And what about Tiffany's say in this matter? I'm gathering she's not getting a commission.
What if this were not a middle class family but a
family in need of money to pay for live-saving medical treatment?
My hope is that Tiffany is happy to stay in her home
with her new owners.
If a mystery buyer or indeed Robert Redford strolled
into your life, what would you do? (And, Sam well may ask, “what about the
other $120K?)
