# Money and Ethics (and morals) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 30, 2000, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885 "2000-05-30T14:40:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JimmyNipples](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@JimmyNipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyNipples)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/1 "2000-05-30T14:40:23Z")
What would you do for money? Cut of part of your pinky finger for 100,000 bux? Poke out an eye for 10 million? Get up on a stage naked and sing your favorite song for 10 grand? I find it fasinating what some people will do for money. A perfect example is that Bobbit character…or Monica Lewinsky…what’s she do now? make purses? For the record, I would cut part of my pinky off for 100,000 bux Yours greedily, Graeme ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/2 "2000-05-30T15:34:03Z")
My version of this question has long been, “What (nonregenerating) part of your body would you sell for what amount?” I tused to surprise me how many folks would staunchly avow that they would not part with any portion of their body for any amount. Say, a pinkie for $100 million. Or a kidney. Or a toe. Yeah, when you find the guy handing out 100 grand for pinkies, tell him he can have mine too. The eye for ten lill is probably tougher, but I’d probably give it a go if it meant I could wear an eye patch, buy a parrot, and bellow “Shiver me timbers.” Ten grand to sing naked. Probably, cash in advance. But when you start getting down to the ten grand or so area, that isn’t all that much money (in my view). Here goes, I’ll give my left arm for $10,000,000. Who will beat that? ---
**Author:** ![soulsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@soulsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulsling)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/3 "2000-05-30T15:44:43Z")
sorry pal, no part of my body for any amount of money, but i’ll gladly and efficiently rid someone else of any or all body parts for a very large sum. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JimmyNipples](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@JimmyNipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyNipples)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/4 "2000-05-30T16:16:33Z")
[QUOTE] \*\* My version of this question has long been, “What (nonregenerating) part of your body would you sell for what amount?” Yup…I kinda thought this might be a tired question for such a worldly board. Yeah, when you find the guy handing out 100 grand for pinkies, tell him he can have mine too. Attaboy…ya got gutz. The eye for ten lill is probably tougher, but I’d probably give it a go if it meant I could wear an eye patch, buy a parrot, and bellow “Shiver me timbers.” A man after my on heart…“Pull in the main sheets!” Ten grand to sing naked. Probably, cash in advance. But when you start getting down to the ten grand or so area, that isn’t all that much money (in my view). True…but singing naked isn’t much of a stretch either. Here goes, I’ll give my left arm for $10,000,000. Who will beat that? You win Regards, Graeme ---
**Author:** ![JimmyNipples](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@JimmyNipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyNipples)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/5 "2000-05-30T16:23:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > sorry pal, no part of my body for any amount of money, but i’ll gladly and efficiently rid someone else of any or all body parts for a very large sum. 😃 > \*\* Okay smarty pants…My stomach is in need of a reduction of some sort… You wouldn’t have a scythe laying around would you? Yours Hangingly, Graeme ---
**Author:** ![soulsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@soulsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulsling)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/6 "2000-05-30T16:49:44Z")
pay me and i’ll get rid of some of that stomach, just don’t count on any gaurantees. you get what you pay for, you want less stomach, i can make that happen 😃 and if you’re worried about suffering, just think about me with all your money after the job is done… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/7 "2000-05-30T18:38:20Z")
A friend of mine and I used to play this game where we’d sit in our usual bar and point people out to each other and say, "would you have sex with that person for xxx amount of money? Of course, it was no fun with him, he’d basically say yes to just about everyone for anything over 100 dollars. I don’t think I’d give up a pinky for 100 grand. I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem to be quite enough to make it worth it. I would definitely not give up an eye for any amount of money… I think I’d give up a kidney for 10 million. Sing naked for 10 grand? Sure. Get me drunk enough, I’d probably do it for 100. ---
**Author:** ![soulsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@soulsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulsling)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/8 "2000-05-30T23:51:17Z")
**Mishell** , i like you already. i’ll have sex with any woman in any bar for $100. i’ll sing naked for $50 dammit. but i will not remove any of my body parts. Only other peoples. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/9 "2000-05-31T00:03:25Z")
Well, I have an eye I’m not using… But ten million isn’t even close if you want the good one. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/10 "2000-05-31T03:17:27Z")
I would sing naked, but only because I have no cause to be embarrassed about my body or my singing voice. But I wouldn’t do anything I felt was humiliating just for money. My dignity has no price. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/11 "2000-05-31T05:17:06Z")
Way back when, oh in the 60’s at least, Terry Southern wrote a nice, mordant little book about this called The Magic Christian. It posed this same sort of “Scruples” quiz with a monetary spin. FWIW, this whole thread makes me uncomfortable. Poor people sell blood and plasma already; w/ transplants becoming more sophisticated, the idea of selling a cornea or a kidney doesn’t sound so far fetched. Frankly, money is overrated. And yes, I’ve been poor; hungry poor. But there are ways of making money that don’t require self-mutilation or humiliation. Don’t mean to suck the air out of the room here, but poor does **not** equal stupid, sly or lacking in dignity. There’s poor…and then there’s greedy. Poor makes do; greed scrambles after the lucre, no matter the cost. Veb ---
**Author:** ![labdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/12 "2000-05-31T13:05:01Z")
back when that movie (would you let robert redford have sex with you wife for a million dollars) was out i had a redneck heterosexual friend who would say, “hell. for a million i’d suck his \*\*\*, swallow, and play with his balls for a million.” 🙂 michael ---
**Author:** ![soulsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@soulsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulsling)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/13 "2000-05-31T13:22:37Z")
this thread is getting way out of hand… ---
**Author:** ![JimmyNipples](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@JimmyNipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyNipples)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/14 "2000-05-31T13:23:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Don’t mean to suck the air out of the room here, but poor does **not** equal stupid, sly or lacking in dignity. There’s poor…and then there’s greedy. Poor makes do; greed scrambles after the lucre, no matter the cost. > > Veb > \*\* Point taken…Of course there are many issues this question brings to light. My aim was to see if people thought like I think. That’s all. After all, the Asian severed pinky market is slumping of late…I’ll wait till it picks up a bit before I start swingin’ the cleaver. Regards, A fully digitized, Graeme ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/15 "2000-05-31T14:39:31Z")
Why is it immoral to prohibit an individual from using or disposing of his body as he desires? I suggest that not every poor person would sell their kidney tomorrow, but for those who would, why shouldn’t they? Yes, there are legitimate arguments to be made, but making TVeblen uncomfortable does not convince me. Can’t each individual decide for themself how much $ would improve their or their family’s situation? And the fact that my perception of my situation differs from yours, does not necessarily make me greedy or stupid. Of course, money alone will not make you happy. But I can imagine few sitautions that are not improved with money. As an intellectual exercise, I am able to consider, would I be happier as I am at present, or minus an arm with $10 mill in the bank. Yes there would be costs, but there would also be benefits. How bout $10 mill for a pinkie? The costs decrease significantly. As far as performing acts for $, many folks regularly perform acts they would not otherwise do if not for the need to obtain money - work. Why is it improper to question how far individuals would go for what amounts of money? Oh yeah, when I asked my wife about sleeping w/ Robert Redford for $1 mill, she said she consider paying that much. ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/16 "2000-05-31T22:44:13Z")
I’m game for singing naked, I like singing and I have little use for clothes anyway. Other entertaining acts are probably acceptable too. I was a Thespian in high school and if you refuse to be embarassed by your actions its not degrading. Getting paid is usually the cherry on top for a truly impressive action. I like the shock value of the story. Losing internal body parts? Do I get pain killers? (Unfortunately I have already lost a few internal parts and I think most of the remainder are working hard enough to pick up the slack.) My pinkie? Not a chance, not in a million years, not for a billion dollars. I love hands as an artistic appreciation thing. Love them, admire them, watch them move and bend for fun. Hands turn me on. I would never mutilate my own. I guess it is a form of vanity though I don’t usually consider myself vain. My fingers are tingling in horror at the thought. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-and-ethics-and-morals/20885/17 "2000-06-02T00:29:00Z")
I’ve paid good money to have some of my body parts removed. I just had my uterus, Fallopian tubes, and ovaries removed, for instance, about two months ago. I’v also paid money to have a couple of Lumps removed (benign lumps, but Lumps all the same), and had more than my share of warts, moles, and assorted weird things frozen or cut or burned from my skin. I wouldn’t give up a perfectly healthy body part for any amount of money, though (I don’t THINK), in part because I have so few of them. I USE my pinkies, both of them. Little toes are a nuisance, I might consider parting with them, but I’m not sure that this would keep me from stubbing myself in the dark. I’d just stub a different part of my foot, is all.