Ethics - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages An individual must perform right things at the right time. The script of the book dealing in ethics originates from the heart and each one has to read and understand it with one’s own efforts as per the demands of the situations. Restoration of ethics in American life, particularly in business, has to be given top priority. Practice right things, for self-satisfaction, and not to become selfish and to amass wealth. C W Colson In, “The Problem with Ethics,” Charles Colson writes with anguish about the plight of the people of America in all segments, with loss of ethical values. According to Colson, ethical and moral decay is the root cause of the problems in American culture. The leadership and people of the country have failed to make proper utilization of the abundant natural wealth that has been bestowed. Selfish goals have turned out to be priorities. A distressing scenario is gradually building up, and no concerted efforts are made to find a tangible solution. Colson’s lecture at the Harvard Business School on April 4, 1991, on the subject of ethics was well-received by the Harvard students. Moral philosophy and ethics were not the favorite topics with the would-be business executives at Harvard, whose sole purpose of getting educated was to know the principles and procedures to maximize profits in the business world. The gist of his lecture was “that a society without a foundation of moral absolutes cannot long survive.” (Colson…) Perfect ethical discipline in the business world may be impossibility; but one needs to know how to carry on with the available discipline by applying the principles of ethics. Colson laments about the future of America, where thousands of public officials are prosecuted and convicted, where Congressmen are censured and forced out of office, where money meant for helping the poor people is being siphoned off by those who are supposed to be its guardians for its proper utilization, where spy scandals threaten the unity and integrity of the nation, where well-known authorities in important positions sell the national honor for sexual favors or for money and where corruption has engulfed all ranks, high and low, of the country’s administration. Colson argues that no professions or branch of business has remained unaffected from corruption. Loan scandals, open exhibition of greed in business dealings, pharmaceutical firms producing adulterated goods, athletes using drugs to improve performances, sportspersons engaging in gambling rackets, top literary figures indulging in plagiarism, section of the intellectuals tendering applications for educational grants on the strength of bogus credentials--the loss of ethical values lies at the bottom of all these maladies. To highlight the existing grotesque scenario of the society Colson quotes from the cover story on ethics from Time Magazine, “Hypocrisy, betrayal and greed unsettle a nation’s soul,” mentions The Washington Post that “common decency can no longer be described as common,” points to the observation in The New Republic magazine that, “There is a destructive sense that nothing is true and everything is permitted.”(Colson….) The Press is the barometer of public opinion. Such a grim situation creates a cynical society, as is the case with America today. Crisis of character has affected all ...Download file to see next pagesRead More