>>>How they act is entirely up to their own consciences. How I act is up to mine. Somebody (I can't recall who) said once that there is no such thing as 'reaction', only 'action', and we are all responsible for our own actions. In other words, nobody forces you to behave in a certain way. How we behave is strictly on our own heads.
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>>Ah, this is a philosophical one. To me it sounds like a speech from a sophist. What I miss most is the notion of what's good and bad, of ethics. It sounds asif you don't mind at all what their opinion is.
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>>Besides, a fundamental item in this paragraph is simply not true: There are plenty of situations where people are forced to behave in a certain way. Unless of course they are prepared to become an outsider or to be fired or even to be killed or even worse. Social pressure is happening to us all every day and every time we 'act up to our own consciences' there's a price to be paid. Some can cope with it better than others.
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>I think you are missing the point. Nobody can force you to do anything. You always choose your own actions. I'm not saying that what you might choose is different from what everybody else might choose, but still, you choose. If someone attacks you, you choose to defend yourself, or, if you're Ghandi, you choose not to. Bottom line is, nobody forces you to behave in any particular way. Whatever you choose to do, you choose for yourself. Sure, self preservation is a powerful motivator, but still, you choose what you choose. You can never, ever blame somebody else for your own behavioural choices.

I'm not missing the point professor. :)
I'm just disagreeing here and I have an argument. It is proven that people can be forced to behave in a certain way. You too. Everybody can be forced. And yes, for me the consequence of that argument is that in certain cases other people CAN be blamed for your own behavior.