"A principle's a principle"

Also is there any risk of my reputation being tarnished a bit by this kind of thing? Do people judge you by the places you've written aswell as what you've written? I mean this mag is just an insignificant blip really but still, I'm slightly worried by what this might mean in the future.

You're weighing the pro's and con's which what you gotta do... then take your best guess which is the right decision and go with it (knowing that there will be a trade-off no matter what).

Two bits of advice/things to think about:

1) You clearly have a well-defined set of values. Don't let anyone tell you this is a bad thing (it sounds like a huge cliche and I don't want to get into the whole capitalism debate, but it's easy to loose track of these things as you proceed on "your career"). Anyway, having those values and sensitivity in an unsupportive environment just means that you'll have to more clearly define your values and pick your fights... I don't buy the whole "if I disagree with you but participate in your system then I've sold out" bit. Change can and does happen on the inside and it happens through small, day-to-day actions.

2) Will you learn from this experience? I mean, even if it turns out crap, are you going to gain something from it (about what you do or don't want to be doing?). If the answer is yes, I say that's the only thing that matters.

And don't worry about reputations. That's all a bunch of shit, especially if, as it sounds like, you're just starting out.

HOWEVER i would not do it for a great length of time, bcz that will be very frustrating

also I could then submit articles to you.

Thanks everyone. Mark were you serious about when hackish bitterness has poisoned yr life and this is all that's left

You make it sound very LOTR.

later the super-cynic has his lips bitten off!!

anyway the point is, get yr hackwork in early when it's good practice: those who burn too high and bright when young have only downwards to come !!

i shd write for fortune cookies...

valuable experience, different perspectives. i dont think it matters too much if theres a whole slant which you disagree with, it could be beneficial to you, sort of 'working outside yourself?' or something.

the point about reputations is a good one though, i hadnt really thought about that. its easy to say these things dont matter, but i'm not so sure.

this should not stop you though, i think you should do, at least until you dont want to anymore...

and theres the money too! more fun more nights out!!!

not that i would, i'm just not that good at those kind of things. but i think you could, or would, something

If someone objects to something, saying it's 'the principle of the matter', does this mean anything at all other than 'I disagree because I have a problem with it'. Like, is there an argument to say that 'principles' are all in the mind and so if you are objecting 'on principle' then all you're doing is reflecting on yourself?

I've only ever heard used when ultimately it means "the end doesn't justify the means", but in the form of "I appreciate your motivations but it goes against my own ethical code". So yes, it's personal, but are you trying to argue that a personal set of ethics reduces to irrelevancy? That would basically be tearing down all ethics, ever. Which may be a valid endeavour, tbh.

I used the phrase the other day when we were talking about an intra family argument between my mum and our relations - a squabble over inheritance matters. My sister, ever the diplomat, said 'It's just stuff at the end of the day, so we shouldn't let it get to us'. I said that although it is just stuff, the principle of the matter is we can't just let people walk all over us if it boils down to unfairness. My sister said that citing principles are all a reflection on the person whose principles are being affronted. It was a friendly and polite conversation, but I wondered if the idea of arguing for/against something on 'principle' did matter or if it's just hot air.

I wondered if the idea of arguing for/against something on 'principle' did matter or if it's just hot air.

Invoking a principle says it matters to you, that you recognize the issue as cutting very close to a basic value you find important.

If the point of your invocation of principle is to persuade another person, rather than to declare your own intentions, then it is only persuasive if the other person attaches a similar weight to that principle. otoh, if you and the other person are seeking a consensus, it does let them know they'll have to address that principle to your satisfaction in the process of finding an agreement.

"On principle" is a good shorthand for "this short term acquiescence will screw us over in the long run so let's suffer through it a little" but I agree that if it's just empty sanctimony then forget it.

I've only ever heard used when ultimately it means "the end doesn't justify the means", but in the form of "I appreciate your motivations but it goes against my own ethical code". So yes, it's personal, but are you trying to argue that a personal set of ethics reduces to irrelevancy? That would basically be tearing down all ethics, ever. Which may be a valid endeavour, tbh.

― emil.y,

would read further expansion of this

For those people who derive their ethics from an external and presumably infallible authority such as the Bible or Koran, a purely personal set of ethics would indeed be an irrelevancy.