WHY SOFT CHEATING SHOULD BE OFFICIALLY ALLOWED AND APPROVED ?.......( Article by Carp )


It's all too easy , isn't it , to turn a blind eye to a problem you are a part of , and think  " Oh stuff it.... trying to stay ethical , honest and fair is just too hard....when the choice is between allowing the human condition to prevail , or attempting to discipline yourself by selflessly adopting a strict moral and ethical attitude ( which will more than likely likely to impair your results ) . Surely , one's natural inclination is to achieve the best results possible ".
And why not , I ask myself ? If everyone is up to no good , with their dodgy practices and coffee-housing tactics , then keeping par with them requires me to follow suit, so to speak.  Recent surveys , carried out by The Institute of Pointless Studies, reveal that most players subscribe to the same mantra of " if you can't beat them then join them " and " isn't life a rat race after all ? ".
So unfortunately , there really isn't an alternative. Why ? Because the sad truth is the game of bridge would die a sudden death if players were made to behave in a completely honest and ethical way. The large majority would rather give up the game than change habits of a lifetime , and sacrifice of what limited chances they had to achieve even a modicum of success. 
Just think about it for a minute. A bridge event where all the participants bid and play the cards in tempo , never passing on even a smidgen of unauthorised information across to their partners. Total honesty. Total integrity. Total trust. A perfectly level playing field.  No cheating of any kind whatsoever. Now tell me that isn't wishful thinking ?  A pie-in-the-sky dream ? An amazing Utopian world of bridge ? 
Well, because the reality of the game today is the total opposite of the above ,  I feel it is a necessity for all bridge clubs ( including Bob MacKinnon's ) to accept the inevitable , and declare categorically to all their members " ANYTHING GOES "  and  " DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT THEY DO UNTO YOU ". This official sanctioning and approval of soft cheating will mean players are no longer under any pressure to conform , or go through the pretence of conforming , to those burdensome ethical standards and rules. Now they are in a position to really enjoy their bridge ,  giving free reign to their human condition to push their moral consciences aside. Moreover , if everyone comes to accept soft cheating as a legitimate aspect of the game ,  then the world of bridge might not seem too bad a place after all.