Wall Street Movement in the Light of Ethics - Research Paper Example

? Wall Street Movement in the Light of Ethics Introduction The campaign of Wall Street initiated in the suburban areas of the US, and then it spread across the whole nation like a bush fire. The basic reason of this unpleasant situation is the lack of righteousness. According to the activists, the fiscal system at the organization is unfair and immoral. At the same instance the governmental agencies are not helping the people to get out of the misery. So it is now believed by majority of citizens that the government failed to stand for their interests at large (Hardt & Negri, 2011). Thus the fundamental factor, which caused this movement to intensify, is the unethical behavior of organization’s controlling body, some government official claim, that this activity is not based on any rationale at all (Tarrow, 2011). Therefore it should be condemned. But on the other side, the supporters are increasing and the effort is getting more coordinated as the time passes. Basically this idea is stemming for the most preemptive, yet logical principle of human kind, that is identical privileges for everyone. This ideology provides this activity the finest rationale. However the opposite forces are attempting to uphold the corporate rules. It is imperative to note, that this struggle is at the verge of becoming, the mean of awakening for the entire nation regarding their rights. This struggle will also challenge the economic structure of US, because this system is also designed to protect the interests of few over many. So the embedded injustice will be identified by the general public very soon. This series of protests will not end in the near future, but it represents the early stage of a larger disturbance, for those who like to follow the old methods. This phenomenon is going to prove as a source of massive reforms in legal, economic and political setup of USA (Tarrow, 2011). The major cause of the situation is the faulty set of values that are implemented, throughout the country. These norms are not evaluated with the respect of changing socio-economic climate of the country. Therefore people are challenging them. Values Now this paper is turning its focus towards the relation of moral values with the struggle of Wall Street. Values could be defined as the foremost principles of human existence, and they are concerned with the concept of good and bad, right and wrong, duty and responsibility (Hall, Jones, & Raffo, 2004) It could be assumed in the light of above definition, that these are fundamental laws that make us human. This set of values grant same status to everyone in the community, irrespective of gender, color and race. These principles also give the right to all humans to express their feeling and emotions within the boundaries of federal and regional law, but the approaches, that are applied to do business at Wall Street violated these laws. The scholars have categorized these values in the following typologies. Traditional Values This approach is of conventional nature, and based upon the concept of privileges and obligations oneself must fulfill (Beauchamp & Bowie, 2004). But this classification relies on strictness. It uses force through training and educating people to help them become good citizens and then fabricates punishments for those who do not follow the traditional ways. In the case of this kind of value system, people are often fearful and break the laws, whenever they can. So it is not an effective method in the long run perspective. This sort of system soon starts to discriminate among the people, by giving more importance to one faction’s rights and desires over those of another. Modern Values The modern set of values is fundamentally based upon the idea of developing a sense of right or wrong in the people, so that they could judge their own actions in the light of morality (Beauchamp & Bowie, 2004), but this approach is firmly linked with the overall economic condition of the nation, because the morality decreases, with the deterioration of economic climate. Modern norms aim at the development of fine behavior, which become part of one’s personality after a very long time, in the next stage this behavior attains the level where it could be characterized as principles (Beauchamp & Bowie, 2004). However, the set of values cultivated by this approach are more permanent, as compared with those developed by the previous methodology. Wall Street Struggle and Values The issue of Wall Street is caused, due to the application of traditional values. The organization developed rules and regulations in the beginning, which served them well in increasing their profits and income. As the time passed these rules became inapplicable due to the change in micro and macro circumstances. The management of Wall Street remained committed to the old ways, which are viewed as injustice by others, because they were made to protect the interests of minority at the expense of those of majority, these regulations were enforced on the employees; therefore, they never accepted them. Soon after, they became tired of following the routine. It caused the Wall Street struggle to emerge. Another factor, which caused this phenomenon to aggravate in the lack of responsibility in the top management of the organization towards the welfare of the employees, this could be characterized as the absence of compassion towards the mankind. It is the basic element human psychology that he will always respect and love those who possess same or similar feelings towards him. But in the case of Wall Street management this attribute was missing, this is the reason, why employees openly challenged them. It is evident, that the corporate leadership does not have any morality, which is the most important ingredient of modern values, the modern values revolve around the concept of self accountability and responsibility towards the society, officials at Wall Street neglected these values, which led them to the chaotic situation. During the course of these protests, the federal agencies are attempting to suppress the freedom of speech, which another violation of ethics and norms. From this observation, the commitment of government to preserve, the old ways is clearly highlighted. The presence of traditional and absence of modern values among the corporate and political management of the nation, caused the surge of these historical protests. According to the views of experts, this struggle is growing and will keep expanding until the socio-economic, along with the political setup is changed. Economic Implications This movement will affect the economic system of the country as well, because this setup is the extension of the organizational culture of the firms like Wall Street. Thus this setup is based on the principle of protecting the interests of few against those of many; this rule directly gives birth to the injustice and inequality (Hardt & Negri, 2011). The economic growth is the key to the betterment of living standards in any country, but due to this obsolete economic system, the living standard of the middle class is diminishing, therefore the in-equal income distribution is taking place nationwide, therefore the rich is getting richer, while the poor is getting poorer. This is very alarming condition. The solution to this problem will be provided by this particular struggle, because this is the most widely supported protest in the history of US. Soon it will be transformed into the campaign to bring change in the political leadership as well. This research effort, predicts, that this struggle of Wall Street will not remain focused on just one organization, but on the contrary, it will soon spread across the other facets of life, where injustice and in-equality is prevailing. This will become the source of radical change in US, because the number of supporters for the campaign is growing at an exponential rate. The main theme of this endeavor is the people’s need to earn equally, because of this financial injustice their future in endangered. This whole scandal is also the violation of Declaration of Independence, which promised same rights for all. Conclusion This paper discussed about the Wall Street campaign, this activity was initiated at a very limited scope, because of this reason government did not care about it in the beginning, but suddenly things started to get erratic, when large number of people became affiliated with this activity. The purpose of this protest is to stand for the rights of common person, appeared so noble to the majority of Americans, that they readily accepted this campaign. This phenomenon aggravated due to the lack of fairness in the financial system, which is based upon the presumption to maximize the profit and income of the firms. Therefore it neglected the factor of social welfare. The government played an insignificant role to rectify the situation, which led to the increasing level of public distrust in the government. At the same time the absence of modern values, among the management and government played its due part in making the matter worst. Government representatives rendered this struggle as illogical, but in reality it is not the case. Despite intensive resistance from government, the supporters of this noble campaign are increasing, along with the funds, dedicated to keep it going. So, it is logical to assume, that it will grow in the near future, in this way, it will leave an impact on every walk of life. It carries the potential to modify the beliefs, norms and minds of the Americans, the federal agencies are attempting to suppress the freedom of speech, which is another violation of ethics and norms. From this observation, the commitment of government to preserve, the old ways is clearly highlighted. However the solution of the situation must be found. The condition is worsening with every passing minute. This work places some suggestions to remedy the conflict, which are as follows The formal argument managing process should be initiated, by opening a dialogue between the two parties (Rahim & Psenicka, 2002). During these talks only senior leaders should invited. This process may facilitate the communication among the two sides, resulting in elevation of confusion and anger. After the outburst of anger both parties, may be ready to put their terms and conditions for solving the matter. This phase will clarify things. Due to this process they will soon work like a team to solve the problems. Impartial mediation is advised to avoid the blame game. This process may take a long time to implement, but it is important, that government and company management to coordinate patiently to support this procedure. On the other hand, the management of the company should not be tempered with, because this act will shift the power towards the protestors, which will indeed jeopardize the peace process. Both of the members should be treated equally to keep the mediation procedure fair. But it should also kept it mind, that despite all the effort, this process could fail in this case, the management must prepare a backup plan, this time a firmer hand may be required. But the probability of this kind of outcome is negligible, once the arbitration process is successful, because much of the differences are often sought out during the talks. At the later stage of the process, both of the parties should be compelled to make a compromise to help in devising plan to rectify the undesirable condition. The final stage is to implement the devised plan, in a coordinated method, such as the overseeing committee could be appointed to control the process, this team must have equal representation of both the sides, along with the arbitrator. The point of the above mentioned process is to eliminate the enmity among the conflicting groups, through making them responsible to solve the problems at hand. . Works Cited Beauchamp, T., & Bowie, N. (2004). Ethical Theory and Business. NJ: Pearson Prentic Hall. Hall, D., Jones, R., & Raffo, C. (2004). Business Studies 3rd Ed. Ormskirk, Lancs,L39 SHP: Causeway Press Ltd. Hardt, M., & Negri, A. (2011, Oct. 11). The Fight for 'Real Democracy' at the Heart of Occupy Wall Street The Encampment in Lower Manhattan Speaks to a Failure of Representation. Foreign Affairs . Rahim, A., & Psenicka, C. (2002). A Model of Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Management Strategies: A Study in Seven Countries . The International Journal of Organizational Analysis , 302-326. Tarrow, S. (2011, October 10). Why Occupy Wall Street is Not the Tea Party of the Left The United States’ Long History of Protest. Foreign Affairs . Read More