Let's discuss: Writing term papers for $$$

[GilloD]

Not buying them, writing them for someone else. Discuss.

[Bocsius]

Unethical. Immoral. Hopefully illegal (fraud?).

[Don Flamenco]

How much money?    Even a couple hundred doesn't seem worth it to me (since I already procrastinate like hell on my own work.)

[Ganhyun]

The person paying for the paper is hurting themselves more than they help themselves.

[ch1nchilla]

...is totally awesome. I'd do it for like $200. I wouldn't, however, have someone else write a paper for me.

[GilloD]

Not illegal, the money is obscenely good. Ethically dubious

[Bloodwake]

Fuck term papers for cash. Just sell them Adderall and make them type 'em themselves.

[John Dunbar]

Paying someone to do things you don't want to do is a beautiful thing. Providing a service like that is commendable.

[DJ_Tet]

I've written papers for money, it was easy money back in the day from lazy people who had too much money.  I knew a friend who did it in high school, since our class was only 100 people I always thought that was ballsy.  I've only written for people who didn't know me, online people.

If you need a paper, you know how to use the PM feature 

[GilloD]

I created a firestorm of hate at MetaFilter by inquiring about this. My thinking is that I have a service I can provide. Is it morally dubious? Yes. But I'm not making the decision. I'm providing a service. I realize that's sort of a convenient distinction to make, but I fundamentally believe in the moral autonomy of persons. I realize I'm inviting a cognitive dissonance into my life- I abhor plagiarism and I abhor paper buyers. But excusing myself from the ring on those grounds is hardly the "right thing".

[Phoenix Dark]

I helped a couple chicks write papers when I was in HS, expecting something in return. smh

In college I wrote a paper for a buddy, but only because he had the flu and needed my help. Got him an A.

[ch1nchilla]

I don't think it's morally dubious for the writer of the paper at all. S/he is being paid to write a paper, essentially providing a bare-bones service. What the purchaser does with it after the fact is not the responsibility of the writer at all.

[GilloD]

I posted this over yonder:

It's a good question. How can I feel this way? I think there are a couple of layers to that answer. The first is obvious and oblivious and it doesn't really clear the air as much as it shrugs it's shoulders and says, "Who, me?": It's going on. And it will go on without me. But so long as it goes on, I could make some scratch. That's a simple equation and unlike some other posters, I don't think America WILL BLOW UP! because I wrote a few papers. In my mind this is certainly more ethical than a desk job at a PMC.

Moving on, the second answer is because I'm comfortable with the dissonance here. I abhor plagiarists. I abhor the people who buy papers. But I'd be comfortable writing them.

When I look at the question I have to respect the moral autonomy of people who decide, "I need to buy a paper". I provide the service. Now, the magic of analogy will let someone else come along and say, "Well, then why don't you build bombs to kill civilians because someone will pay you to do so?". And the answer is that building BOMBS is about four-hundred-million degrees of severity away from writing term papers.

There's a constant thread here that somehow allowing morally bankrupt students to cheat their way to a degree will rot the foundations of this country, nay, world. I have to refute that. Smart people do smart things, dumb people do dumb things, sometimes the order gets jumbled, but by and large you succeed by your own wits. A degree is just the cost of admission nowadays. I think if you still admire a college degree as some incredibly shining achievement, you're not paying attention. It's just the cost of getting into the mix.

[Don Flamenco]

I created a firestorm of hate at MetaFilter by inquiring about this. My thinking is that I have a service I can provide. Is it morally dubious? Yes. But I'm not making the decision. I'm providing a service. I realize that's sort of a convenient distinction to make, but I fundamentally believe in the moral autonomy of persons. I realize I'm inviting a cognitive dissonance into my life- I abhor plagiarism and I abhor paper buyers. But excusing myself from the ring on those grounds is hardly the "right thing".

Keep typing like that and maybe you'll eventually justify it.  

It's not morally dubious--it's plain wrong for you and the person.  They entered into a contract with their school to not cheat and you're aiding them in that. The fact that money is changing hands makes no difference.  Whether it's a service or a favor, you're not in the right.  You're hurting the person by allowing them to slide by and not work honestly, allowing them to slip morally.  If they're competing with the class, then its even worse (depending on how well you write, I guess.)  You and the buyer are both in the pits here. 

I'm not saying I care and I'm not trying to reprimand you, but I just want it to be clear that this isn't a gray area. in my opinion, it feels better just to  say "yeah, that was definitely wrong, wow." If you are fully aware, then you've both preserved your moral line and received what you wanted out of the situation  

[Beardo]

All of the risk is on the end user (the student).

Let the free market work and make some paper along the way!

[GilloD]

I created a firestorm of hate at MetaFilter by inquiring about this. My thinking is that I have a service I can provide. Is it morally dubious? Yes. But I'm not making the decision. I'm providing a service. I realize that's sort of a convenient distinction to make, but I fundamentally believe in the moral autonomy of persons. I realize I'm inviting a cognitive dissonance into my life- I abhor plagiarism and I abhor paper buyers. But excusing myself from the ring on those grounds is hardly the "right thing".

Keep typing like that and maybe you'll eventually justify it.  

It's not morally dubious--it's plain wrong for you and the person.  They entered into a contract with their school to not cheat and you're aiding them in that. The fact that money is changing hands makes no difference.  Whether it's a service or a favor, you're not in the right.  You're hurting the person by allowing them to slide by and not work honestly, allowing them to slip morally.  If they're competing with the class, then its even worse (depending on how well you write, I guess.)  You and the buyer are both in the pits here. 

I'm not saying I care and I'm not trying to reprimand you, but I just want it to be clear that this isn't a gray area. in my opinion, it feels better just to  say "yeah, that was definitely wrong, wow." If you are fully aware, then you've both preserved your moral line and received what you wanted out of the situation  

Here's the straight talk: I want the money. I have the skill. There is the market.

Green- Agreed. I wrote a ton of papers and thesis and I walked out without cheating. I think this kind of shit is wrong and weak. But it's there.

FYI, the AskMefi and MetaTalk threads wherein I am the villain: http://metatalk.metafilter.com/16918/Lets-talk-about-writing-term-papers-for-money
http://ask.metafilter.com/104983/Tell-me-about-writing-term-papers-for-money

[Cormacaroni]

Hypothetical: Would George Bush have graduated from Yale without people writing his papers for him? Would he have got where he is today without graduating from Yale?

I'm not suggesting that writing papers means you're responsible for bombing Afghanistan, but I would say that to deny any causality there is debatable. My objections are not so much moral as they are practical: you're undermining the meritocracy that universities are supposed to further.

Of course, I know what it's like to be poor in college - hell, i did drug tests to pay rent back in college (on top of working), i know how desperate things can get. I'm not judging any individuals here, just responding to the OP's call for discussion.

[Bloodwake]

Bigger colleges (like Michigan or Kentucky) you can totally get away with it.

Not at smaller colleges though. Professors get accustomed to your writing style.

[Loki]

I'm not suggesting that writing papers means you're responsible for bombing Afghanistan...

Awesome.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I've done it - no big deal.

My going rate was $20 per paper or an eighth of pot.  I could bang them out in an hour so it wasn't really that big of a deal.

Used to charge the same for Differential Equations homework for two people.

My reasoning is that it was quick for me to do; I could always get something decent for $20 or a decent high.

Oh and also the couple hundred dollars I raised from these ventures allowed me to pay off my credit card bills a little faster.  Every cent counts in college.

[Mupepe]

I would do it if I had the chance

[demi]

I'd rather get achievements for people for money - much easier and less time involved

[DJ_Tet]

I'd rather get achievements for people for money - much easier and less time involved

Much smaller potential customer list

[Tauntaun]

I would say no, bad idea.

[Don Flamenco]

Here's the straight talk: I want the money. I have the skill. There is the market.

Then what's the problem?  oh yeah, the morals thing.  But you're better than your customers, right?  So why would it fester in your mind?  Surprised you even made a thread about it instead of doing it without thinking twice.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

relax, I'm just fucking with you.

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