The Cinderella Principle

Great post. Here’s my attempt at a mailbag question:

“During the BP oil spill and its aftermath, was it more moral or less moral to purchase gas from a BP outlet?”

First of all, I understand that a lot of franchisees own BP gas stations, so BP wouldn’t even feel the effect of a protest (in fact, it’s almost impossible to protest a gas company specifically these days), but for the sake of this question, let’s assume that BP itself is the gas stations. I argued (and disagreed with almost all of my friends) that it was more moral to buy from BP. If BP received a $20 billion fine to pay to the victims, they would need that money to come from somewhere (i.e. selling gas). If BP makes no money, they can’t pay off their obligations. Socrates, when asked whether littering was moral or immoral, taught us to use this back-of-the-envelope method, “Would the world be a better or worse place if everyone engaged in activity x?” Obviously, if everyone dumped truckloads of litter in the streets, the world would be a worse place. Likewise, if absolutely everyone boycotted BP, the world would be a worse place because the settlement couldn’t be paid. It’s kind of like when people complain and moan about ‘Big Oil,’ even though it’s probably been the backbone of their index fund’s positive return this decade…Anyway, what’s your take?