Once there was a wealthy and powerful man who gave little priority to ethics while achieving his many successes. One day, concerned about losing his son's respect because of this shady behavior, he pleaded, "Look son, I'm no worse than anyone else."

"I know dad," replied the son disappointedly. "But I thought you were better."

Ethics consultant Michael Josephson, keynote speaker at the recent Richard C. Van Dusen Forum on Urban Issues at Wayne State University, used the anecdote to illustrate how ethical behavior -- or lack thereof -- can have an impact far beyond immediate circumstances.

Josephson, a former WSU law professor who is president of the Joseph and Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics in Marina Del Rey, Calif., spoke on ethical standards in municipal government.

He told an audience that included Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer that people in positions of power have a special obligation to behave ethically. They must earn the public's trust and respect not only through their accomplishments but also by avoiding even the appearance of impropriety.

He urged government officials to prove they are worthy of public trust, to scrupulously avoid deceit and never to take gifts. "If you accept a gift that you never expected or demanded, soon you'll start expecting it," he cautioned.

"There are only two things you [should] get for being a public servant: your salary and whatever good feeling you have. If you want anything more, get out. You are not entitled to it and [accepting gifts] will corrupt the system."

He said Americans have developed a "deep-seated cynicism" about the ethics of people in many professions, not just public service. And he believes many citizens are contributing to the problem.

"How many of us," he asked, "have experienced the phenomenon of people re-electing someone who by all kinds of standards isn't very ethical? The argument is that maybe he's a crook, but he's our crook. As long as he keeps bringing home the bacon . . . people begin voting with their pocketbooks rather than their principles. And soon they don't know who they're selling out to."

Coining a variation of Murphy's law, he quipped, "Every time you think it couldn't get any worse, it does."

But he said passing more laws governing the behavior of officials is not the solution. Although laws establish a baseline for what is expected, unethical people can always find and exploit loopholes.

"If we rely entirely on laws," he explained, "our sense of morality atrophies as it gets replaced with a sense of legality. . . . If you are an ethical person, you don't need rules [to ensure proper behavior]."

In Josephson's view, the erosion of ethical behavior is not caused primarily by people with evil intentions. Rather it is perpetuated by "good and decent people who find ourselves in all kinds of challenges throughout our lives and just don't always do the good and decent thing."

There is a tendency to justify and rationalize one's own behavior," he observed. "Everyone is ethical in his or her own eyes." As an example he cited motorists who own radar detectors. "Explain to your child why you have one," he challenged. "They're for breaking the law without getting caught."

He stressed the importance of citizens speaking up when they suspect unethical behavior, quoting English statesman Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing."

Does this mean involving oneself each time there is a perceived breach in ethics by a public official? "Of course not. You've got to choose your battles," Josephson emphasized. "But here's the test: are you choosing any?

"Do something," he urged. "If those of us who are fundamentally committed to these virtues and characteristics aren't willing to spread the word to make a difference, who will?"

The Van Dusen Forum on Urban issues, organized annually by WSU's College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs, is named for the late Richard Van Dusen,a prominent attorney and civic leader who served many years on the university's Board of Governors.