Candidate A is Franklin D Roosevelt, Candidate B is Winston Churchill, and Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.
Note: This ethics test first became popular during the 1990's when it made the rounds in various forms by email. Some historical facts in the test are likely not correct. One notable historical fact relates to Beethoven's background. While Beethoven came from humble beginnings he was not nearly so disadvantaged as the test suggests. The same is true for the negative characteristics attributed to Roosevelt and Churchill which are exaggerated. Hitler would have found it difficult to get involved in any extra-marital affairs since he was married for the first time in a bunker not long before he died.
The point real point of the test is still a valid one.
We all tend to make ethical judgments based on conditioned and subjective views that can skew our ideas of what is right and appropriate.
And we all tend to make snap decisions in assessing whether something is right or wrong, before getting the full story.
The need to examine what really lies beneath the surface when judging good and bad will become increasingly important as ethics and ethical issues become genuinely popular mainstream concerns.
Powerful organizations, some politicians and the media are very clever at 'spinning' and distorting information so as to control public opinion.
Therefore modern ethical issues such as corruption, environmental action, humanitarianism, the excesses of globalization, etc., cannot be judged on face-value and what the political and corporate leaders say, or even by any measurement and survey instruments over which they have influence.
Judging important matters such as ethics on the surface is no basis for proper judgment, moreover we make it very easy for those who seek to deceive and exploit us when we fail to question and examine things properly before deciding.
Transparency, scrutiny, and a public demand for truth are the drivers for real ethical accountability.
