Origin of Occupy Wall Street Movement - Essay Example

Occupy Wall Street By Presented to Origin of Occupy Wall street movement Occupy wall street movement started in 2011 September 17th to protest against inequality, involvement of the banks in fraud in the US, multinational corporations influence over democratic processes. The first group held their protests at Zuccotti Park, a privately owned park within the financial district of New York. The slogan of the group was; “we are the 99 percent”. The slogan was to show the inequality between the haves, considered being 1% and the have not at 99%. The main purpose was to camp out for days or even months to instigate change in the management of corporations and multinationals. The major question of the protest is whether it led to better management or held some organization responsible for the financial crisis witnessed in the country. The evaluation of activities that created the financial crisis can be done through the evaluation of the ethical values and consideration of the various organizations that led to the crisis. Ethical issues in Wall Street addressed by Occupy Wall Street Movement Ethics is a derivation form a Greek word ethos which is translated to mean “morals”. Ethics is defined as a systematic reflection on what is considered as right. The question arising in the definition is the understanding of morality is on the exclusiveness of definition (Beverly & Thomson, 2011, p. 42). Morality can be described as the work of opinions, decisions and actions that can be classified into what people think is correct or right (Bercovitch, et al., 2009, p. 56). Therefore in defining ethics, it is vital to state, ethics do not have a manual for with methods, expected rules and guides. It is seeking the right kind of morality. Ethics can be further divided into descriptive and prescriptive. Descriptive ethics focuses on the evaluation and description of the existing morality. Normative ethics deals with the judging of morality, which relies on the use of value judgments. Ethical theories rely on the definitions and understanding of values, norms and values. Values can be defined as convictions or matters that are worth striving for (Cory, 2004, p. 112). Values can be intrinsic or instrumental. Intrinsic value is the value itself while instrumental values are a contributory value resulting in an intrinsic value. Moral norms are rules that define the actions required, allowed and prohibited. Norms are always derived from the values. The difference between the two is values are ideals that people want to achieve while norms are the way of achieving them. Moral virtues are character traits vital in the molding a person into a good life. They are similar to values with the main difference being values are things strived for while virtues are inherent characters that one must have. Ethical theories are developed to highlight the decision making process in ethics. Utilitarianism: the Greatest Good The theory approaches ethics by defining morals by use of actions. The actions can be used to define what is wrong or right. In theory, an action that yields beneficial consequences is categorized as right or moral while actions leading to negative results are viewed as wrong. The theory is also called the consequentialist theory because it focuses on the outcome of actions rather than the action themselves. The theory holds that any action is morally justified by the extent of benefits or harms it is associated with in the society. According to the theory, the greater good means greater happiness, and the moral duty of the individual is to maximize human happiness (Bartlett, 2013, p. 63). The problem with the theory is; the development of individuality, and encouraging the use of immoral actions to achieve success. In the case of the teacher in the poor setting, some may argue that, with the theory, the teacher can just copy the program because the outcome of the action is positive. It can be seen form the case that the teacher is restricted financially, and the same situation is facing the students. The copying of the program is an immoral action but will lead to the development of societal benefits to the student population. With such a view, it can be argued that the teacher in copying the program did not interfere with ethics because the outcome of the action is beneficial. In the application of the theory in the wall street case, there are several issues that can be highlighted (Crane & Matten, 2007, p. 32). The drop in mortgage prices can be viewed as a social good, but it was the greatest contributor to losses within the banking sector leading to massive debts that could not be paid for. The Unitarian good theory may view the drop in mortgage prices as a plus for the society but for corporate organizations it was the worse occurrence because it facilitated the development of the financial crisis which even the occupy wall street movement accepts that it led to the development of the 2009 to 2010 crisis (Crane & Matten, 2007). Kantian Ethical theory The theory developed by Immanuel Kant a German philosopher is different from the utilitarian theory in concept and application. According to the theory, the consequences of the actions should not be used for evaluation of morality because the actions are irrelevant. In his argument, Kant insists that the motivation behind the action is what matters. Therefore, the theory stipulates that actions are considered moral are those that are taken or done out of a sense of duty. In brief, the theory advocates of taking an action because the person is persuaded that it is the right. Kant uses the ability of humanity to reason as the main focus of the study to develop the basic rules called the categorical imperative. The basic rule of morality must be followed no matter what. It is a rule that must be adhered to at all times under all circumstances. The categorical imperative is close to the golden rule, but not identical to it because the golden rule is dependent on the outcome, while categorical imperative is not consequence dependent. In response to viewing the human beings as a means to an end, Kant developed the second formulation of the categorical imperative stating; no one should use another person for his or her own purposes. In contrast, every human being must be treated as someone of independent moral worth with the freedom of choice. To deny the other person the fundamental right of choice is to be immoral and leads to injustice. The theory in application to the case in question is, despite the consequence of the actions of the teacher, the action to the problem is not to copy the program because it is immoral representing a break from the standard of practice in computer and information sciences (Cory, 2004). In understanding the ethical issues, justice is vital. It involves the protection of individual rights, or prevention of an injustice to an individual. Comparing cases to avoid discrimination or treating people differently those are alike in relevant respects. In looking at justice three classes of justice exist namely; Retributive justice, distributive justice and compensatory justice. Distributive justice is concerned with the division of benefits and burdens among individuals while retributive justice is concerned with the punishment or retribution that should be imposed on the individual who has done some wrong. Compensatory justice is concerned by the kind and amount of compensation one should receive if wronged. Kantian theory and the movement virtues The theory of developed by Kant argues that the resultant effect of the actions should not be considered as the evaluator of the ethics. It was not ethical for the values of the mortgage to be low due to the actions of the banks and the change in demand. The reduction in price in the utilitarian good theory can be viewed as positive, but in Kantian theory it is not ethical to reduce prices because it will infringe on the rights of others. The positive impact of price change was overshadowed by the crisis that ensued after the price change. The collapse of the mortgage companies indicated the changes in the price had taken a toll on the financial market resulting in the national and global crisis. The major contributor to inequality in wealth distribution is the system of governance (Cory, 2004). Capitalist systems encourage accruals of wealth and individuality over society leading to the creation of greedy organizations such as the mortgage industries and financial institutions that rip the public to accrue wealth. Banks operate on the same model because they borrow at a lower fee and lend at a higher fee. The future of Occupy Wall street Movement The movement has no future owing to several issues that cannot be addressed by the movement. The financial crisis witnessed in wall street was dealt with effectively leading to the improvement in the economy and also the issues put across by the movement cannot be evaluated and solved in an instance. Inequality has existed in the society over centuries and will continue to exist because of several factors. However, the level of support of the less fortunate in the society can be achieved in the society through the engagement of the society in the process of welfare improvement. One year later the movement’s effect is substantially reduced. It does not have a future in the country in terms of mobilization and change creation. Conclusion Every field of operation is affected by ethical issues, which can be addressed up to a certain degree. Ethical issues depend on the character of the people involved. Issues such as honesty, transparency depends on the integrity of the individual. Continuous training can help reduce the effects of personality in the development of ethical issues. The success of any business will be achieved when the organizational vision, goals and objectives are known, and all actions of the employees be focused on the achievement of the goal (Beverly & Thomson, 2011, p. 125). Occupy wall street was started as a movement to address social inequality by influencing the government to change the financial and other activities that have an adverse effect on the social welfare of the community. The objectives of the group are almost similar to other organizations that target change in the community by agitating for ending of financial inequality and other vices in the society. Bibliography Bartlett, B., 2013. Poverty, Government and Social Class. [Online] Available at: economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/poverty-government-and-social-class/ [Accessed 25 November 2013]. Bercovitch, J., Bercovitch, J. & Jackson, R., 2009. Conflict Resolution in the Twenty-First Century: Principles, Methods, and Approaches. Michigan: University of Michigan Press. Beverly, M. & Thomson, T., 2011. The Power of Real Time Social Media Marketing:How to Attract and Retain Customers. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. Cory, J., 2004. Business Ethics: The Ethical Revolution Of Minority Shareholders. Berlin: Springer. Crane, A. & Matten, D., 2007. Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ghillyer, A., 2010. Business Ethics: A Real World Approach. Michigan: McGraw Hill Higher Education. Read More