Do you only do the "right" thing because you are scared of punishment?

My conscience wouldn't let me do wrong. I don't want to hurt people, and I tend to look at the larger picture and see the damage I would do, and the pain I would cause. I do genuinely care about others. Your question reminds me of something I read in a German primer in college. I think it was by Bertholt Brecht. He had a wise character named Herr K. In this little episode, someone asked Herr K. if he believed in God. (I'll paraphrase.) Herr K. responded, "Would your behavior change according to whether or not you believed in God? If so, then you NEED a God!" There is a lot of truth to that.

For me i do the "right" thing because i dont want to feel guilty. Not doing the "right" thing makes you feel uncomfortable, uneasy, etc. because of the guilt that rules in your head. With regards to government enforced punishment... i guess as a citizen to one´s country we have to abide the law in order not to be punished. If following the law is the "right" thing to do then so be it :=)

Mostly because of concern for harm of others and the things around me, but there will always be some level of concern about the negative effects on me and my own life, even if I don't consciously think about it or realize it. I do believe in and try to remind others of your motto, because I dislike hypocrisy. Morally speaking, I don't give a dang about laws, I consider about the damage a thing does. The highest authority on one's life, is yourself and those around you. Not a overbearing body who tries to tell you how to live your life. That said, either way, responsibility does tend to be lacking...there's no perfect solution to this. So everyone's just gotta live how they see fit. That goes for our reacting to those who see that they live in a way that harms people, too.

As much as possible i do the right thing like keeping to be honest even it can hurt someone. Afraid of the negative consequences, i avoid to do wrong, but still there are times i can't keep doing the right thing.

Is there really any peoples here on earth that never done a single mistaken? A normal humans sure do doesn't want any negative things came out from them. But sometimes life it's just isn't the way as we want to be. And sometimes a things enforcing us to do a mistaken. For me... Punishment it's just a risk to take.

I think you are doing what most people do. And you said you would do some things if you knew there was no government enforced punishment. I think that is very heroic. It reminds me of our Chinese history. We have had numerous dystanies before modern China, and each dystany was replaced by another with armed rebellion. Think about it, any of these rebellions was regarded as unlawful. So I think sometimes we choose to do something not because it is lawful, but we choose not to do something not because they are unlawful. And actually there are too many grey zones, and we make most of our decisions just because we think it is "right".

Definitely not.I just cannot do the bad things as I am not used to it.I just behave the way I am made of.It is a strain to do the things that are difficult for me.I want a free peaceful life.So I am being good they way I am made.

If you ask me now after I've learned things in life because of this system then I think it wouldn't change me now but I would definety be different if there was no law system in the first place because there are people who like evil ,who are selfish and this system is required to control them. If there were no law I would have treated others badly as they would have treated me.

I do the right things in life because i want to do everything in the righteous way and not in a negative way. There's no reason for us to follow the wrong doings if we know that it's wrong and there's no point of doing it. I'm aware that there are punishment ahead if we do the wrong thing but it doesn't bothers me at all because i know that most of the things i do in life is in the right way.

I would do what I thought was the right thing to do at the time. If stealing or killing or whatever felt like the right thing to do at the time I'd do it.

I do the 'right' thing because that's what I was brought up to do. I also don't like to hurt others, and lying, cheating and stealing hurts everyone, including the liar, cheat or thief. If I could embezzle a million quid from a multinational company without ever getting caught, I might consider it. However, I'd probably end up not doing it, as there is really no such thing as a victimless crime. Good topic.

i do the right thing because of so many reasons and one of them is to avoid the consequences if i do otherwise. another reason is like what you said because i also want to be treated that way. i believe in 'karma' and i also believe that if i do bad things to other people, it will also happen to me and worse. another reason is because it simple makes me feel good every time i know that i have done something good that has made other people happy or has helped other people in some way.

I do the "right thing" bcoz i feel thats what right to do. I do not mean that every thing that has been labelled "right" is right, but most of the things are. If you feel that someone is imposing something that is really not in the interest of you and in turn the society you could always raise your voice against. But when something has been framed "right" there must be some thought that goes behind it. When we say stopping at red lights is correct.....its really correct, bcoz someone is having a green light and in that way you let others go.... So i would say that doing the "right thing" by fearing punishment is not the truth....

I think all I do NOT is the right things ... Ok I'm 19 so being so crazy maybe the age lol I try to as cool as I can with everybody exactly because of what u said treat others ... " but my personallity is wohooo crazy ... I have black nails and this kind of stuff

I would steal from those that have more than enough.