There is a saying whereby we cannot force a horse to drink water but we can lead it to the water to drink on its own. I am improvising this via the title of this entry. This improvization is referring to advertisers on the Internet selling essays written in English to desperate students who have problems writing them for assignments. The advertisers are local graduates while the buyers are China-born students studying here.
To me, this seemingly helpful gesture belies immorality. It is unfair to claim credit for an essay that is not written by oneself; unfair to both the student submitting it and its writer. Despite the fact that the latter may be way past this issue of recognition, this idea is wrong. Earning money in the process of advocating dishonest learning is more than wrong, really. Materialism at the expense of morals is repulsive! It does not matter how tempting the money is.
It is shocking how interested sellers do not care at all for the academic welfare of the buyers, but instead worry about their payment after having written the essays. Thank goodness the intern reporting on this phenomenon views it as immoral.
The selling of fake degrees is also a related phenomenon. It does not matter how far the money can bring you in life. However, the consolation for Literature majors like me is that it is very difficult to sell fake degrees for this. We work very very hard to get our degrees, and there is so much reading and analysis involved in the process of it. There would be an outcry should a market for it be started.
During the interview with a peddler, some things he said deserve protesting. He said the fake degrees are meant for foreign students who have failed to attain degrees the honest way but need to show them to their parents. Is this not encouraging them to continue "not tak(ing) their studies seriously"? After all, they can just buy these fake degrees should they fail to get them the real way. It is ironic how he warns his buyers not to apply for jobs with them so as not to "harm themselves". By buying them, the students are already doing that. Besides, he knows that the fake degrees can fool the illiterate parents, so this shows that he is despicable in causing the students to deceive their parents.
Doing the wrong others are doing too, does not make the wrong become right. So what if "he is not the only one" doing this? He again contradicts himself by saying that he is "not...do(ing) anything illegal but (is) just trying to make a living". Making a living can be done in legal ways. Though the money does not come in so quickly, they at least do not cause him to betray his morals and conscience.
