Do morals and values still matter?

To answer your question about leadership and losing your way. I believe men think they become so powerful that they are untouchable, like a God complex. If the leader has poor values or morals it will be worse at every level as they rise through the ranks. I believe there are more good leaders than bad, we just hear more about the bad ones.

On Petraeus, I find it hard to believe that he has poor morals or values. I think it was more poor judgment on his part and if he talked about classified information definitely a poor decision. He was my battalion commander back in the day, one of the best field grade officers I ever had the privilege to work for.

Yes, morals and values matter. They're just as important as they always were.

I blame mass media for making it seem as though today's leaders have lower morals than leaders of decades past. If the internet, email, camera phones, and closed circuit television cameras had been prevalent in the 60s, maybe we would've captured more scandals perpetrated by people like President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Great leaders are just as human as the common man, and are bound to make the same mistakes.

Moral and ethical issues matter because they speak to CHARACTER.
It is my unshakable belief that if you would lie and cheet on your spouse, you would have little compunction to do so to your peers, subordinates or leaders. Such men (and women) are devoid of honor and integrity, and have no business leading my Soldiers...or me.

I am a leader who wants to look into the eyes of a Soldiers mother or spouse or children and earn their respect because they can judge me worthy to lead their loved one in a job that might just require the ultimate sacrifice.
I want them to know that I would happily take a bullet meant for any of my Soldiers, rather than have to face those Family members and explain why it was that I could be standing there, and their Soldier could not.

People who look the other way when something wrong happens, who lie to look like something they are not, who work for their own profit or aggrandizement or gratification or promotion are working towards goals that do not further my unit, and often damages it.

I think society "tolerates" these behaviors not because they have become "OK", but rather because we have become a society that fears shame. That if we face down and call out bad behavior, that we fear our own sins coming to light and facing our own consequences. I think that by minimizing that shame, we only make it that much easier to choose to do the wrong thing when faced with that dilemma.

I will never call myself perfect, and I have not always done the right thing, but I strive to live my values and morals every day, and find forgivness and redeption on the days I fall short.

Sir, with all due respect, how can they not? Morals and values are essential for bringing HOPE, MORALE, DIRECTION, and EXCELLENCE to the unit! Take them away and you'll get a hopeless, demoralized, and confused bunch of men, part of a so-called UNIT.

I'll call-out Gen. Petraeus, Clinton/Lewinsky, Anthony Weiner, and other unethical characters to their face in a heartbeat! Personally I don't tolerate it. Personally I have high moral and ethical expectations from my men, so much so, that occasionally I find myself being a perfectionist.

Yes, morals and values still matter, even in today's neo-con/neo-liberal society.

As the old quote by Patrick Henry goes, "Give me liberty or give me death", I prefer liberty to calling out a wrongful act and take some potential 'dirty looks' rather than cover it up and live a slave for the rest of my life knowing I could've said or done something about it. But that's just me.

I personally think that moral values do matter, LCDR Jaron Matlow; however, I also think that our society is trending towards anything goes - absolutely anything - so in that regard no, they do not matter to many (most?) people. I remember being in a graduate German course back in 1988, and I mentioned that something was not "right." My professor "pounced" on that and asked me how I could say that something was right or wrong. Who was I to make that determination? And that was almost 30 years ago. Things have gone downhill from there, and I think we're on a downward spiral.

Morals and values always matter. The liberal, immoral, permissive society we now live in is destroying our country. We need sanity back in our government and people need to be held accountable for their immoral, criminal and anti-American acts.

As the military is a microcosm of society in general, the moral decay that has permeated our society has found it way into the military ranks. Leaders with moral courage and tradition values need to take a stand and get us back on the right track.

I think to some, they matter. However, most people will put greed and personal gain before what is "right."

[EDIT]

To elaborate, those people we are discussing here powerful and influential enough to have it swept under the rug. And those who have the power to make/do something about it aren't about to sell out a friend.

If the actions taken by GEN Petraeus where done by SPC Snuffy, he would have already been "nailed to the wall." Any celebrity that gets a DUI while doing intravenous drugs while speeding with a prostitute in the passenger seat will serve a FRACTION of what you or I would face. Is it right? No. Why do we allow it to happen? Because "One voice against many will not change anything." Intimidation is a powerful tool.

I think values and morals absolutely matter!! We as a profession are getting a bad reputation because the bad apples are being highlighted, and I don't think that is necessarily wrong, but I do think that painting all service members with this brush is wrong.

As was described to me in Senior Leader Orientation Course (aka Charm School), we as a profession are in a fish bowl and the population is looking at us. They hold us to a higher standard than the general public and we should hold ourselves to that same higher profile. The higher rank we obtain, both enlisted and officer, there are less fish in the fish bowl to observe. We have to demonstrate the highest level of values and morals, both to validate the trust placed in us by the public and because we must set the standard for the troops observing our every move.

Keep the faith, weed out the bad apples and break out the "Brasso" to polish away the tarnish on our reputation!

"...will at all times conduct myself so as to bring credit upon the Corps, the military service, and my country regardless of the situation in which I find myself."

Morals and values are extremely important and still matter. I can't tell you how many times I have been told I stand out from my peers in the civilian world because of my values and Christian beliefs. I know it isn't me, but Christ in me, but the fact that it is noticeable means that others are looking and they want it.

It doesn't matter until it matters.


If you only care when it matters then it is too late.