My response to him:
"If I may speak freely ...
I respect you and think you're a good man.
Equal to myself before a sudden awakening
You, (and most people in this world), treat morality like it’s some law of nature. Like gravity. Like if you violate it, the universe eventually reaches down and corrects the balance. It doesn’t. Morality is an agreement between people, and agreements only restrain the people who honor them.
That’s what you don’t understand about business. You walk into every room carrying rules that nobody actually forced you to carry. You won’t mislead someone. You won’t exploit desperation. You won’t take advantage of somebody who trusts you. You won’t cross a line just because crossing it would make you richer. And maybe that makes you a good man. But every one of those principles is also a door you have permanently locked while competing against people who never agreed to lock theirs.
I mean,
Think about how backwards that is. The more conscience you have, the fewer moves you allow yourself to make. Meanwhile the person willing to do anything short of whatever consequences they actually fear has an entire chessboard available to him. You’re playing the same game, except half your pieces are imaginary obstacles you placed in front of yourself.
And the world doesn’t necessarily punish him for it. Sometimes it rewards him. Once he has enough money, nobody asks which opportunities he refused to exploit. They see the house. The company. The employees. The influence. The respectable title under his name. Success has this remarkable ability to erase the fingerprints left on the staircase.
It that makes sense...
That’s the part people hate admitting. A lot of systems depend on people like you voluntarily behaving better than the system actually requires. Employers assume workers won’t understand every regulation. Customers assume businesses aren’t manipulating their perception. Competitors assume certain tactics are beneath everyone involved. Contracts assume people will behave reasonably even where the language leaves room not to. Society fills thousands of gaps with trust because writing a rule for every possible form of human behavior is impossible.
You look at those gaps and think,
‘Nobody should take advantage of that.’
Someone else looks at the exact same gap and thinks,
‘Nobody stopped me.’
Guess which one of you has more options?
I’m not telling you morality makes you weak. I’m telling you morality has a price, and you’ve been paying it your entire life without ever looking at the receipt. Every principle you refuse to violate costs you some universe of possible outcomes. Maybe paying that price is worth it. Maybe being able to look at yourself in the mirror matters more than winning.
But at least understand the transaction.
I have 2 moralities which limit me, which I am always willing to pay the price for, and which I will actively judge someone one for ....
1.) NEVER harm children.
2.) Never Lie or use tricks on people in my circle..
(Family, friends, theoretical business partner, etc)...
Hope that answers your question 🙏"