An online forum I frequent had a discussion going about ethics. I've seen similar talks on other forums - usually with the same results. People get their feelings hurt, or they get rude and abrasive. There's a lot of "I'm right and you're wrong" going on. A lot of "I'm better than you" and "you don't know me" attitudes.
My take on it is this: if you do something I think is unethical, or if I do something you think is unethical, that doesn't make either one of us right or wrong. It only means we have different ethical standards. If you want to think I'm wrong that's fine, but you have to realize that your opinion that I'm wrong or unethical doesn't make it a fact. It only makes it your opinion, based on the ethical standards you have.
Period. Full stop. End of discussion.
We could debate that all day, but it's not going to change what I think, and neither one of us is going to "win." I'm more comfortable in my beliefs than that, and they won't be swayed by what you think my ethical standards should be - and no, that's not directed at a specific person. If I had a problem with a specific person, I'd take it up with him or her privately. It's only directed at the issue of ethics itself, in writing or in any other area of life.
Ok. To the point of this post. Do your affiliations (both good and bad) matter?
Does a magazine publisher or book publisher really care if you wrote something in the past that you might not be proud to attach your name to? Will they be more likely to work with you if you're a member of a particular writing organization? I really wonder, and I'm sure opinions, like ethics, will be all over the map on this one.
I think that people who publish writing (book publishers, magazine owners, site owners who actually control their content, etc.) should care about the writing. That's what they're paying for. If the person has talent, that talent should come through and be showcased. The affiliations that person has shouldn't have anything to do with whether he or she is talented and whether his or her writing deserves recognition.
That should hold true for people who have "bad" affiliations, as well as people who have "good" affiliations - because good and bad are matters of opinion.
Sadly, I fear that who you know and the kinds of things you write about probably hold more weight than your actual talent and abilities, at least in the online world. It's unfortunate, but I doubt my thinking that it isn't right will change it.
I can only hope that publishers will continue to judge my ability, and not me as a person based on how they think I should act, who they think I should know, or what they think I should do or be.
It would be nice if we would all do that, in writing and in the rest of life. Perhaps we could learn to celebrate the fact that we're all different, instead of fighting because we aren't all the same?
