Ethical Issues That Have Adversely Affected Our Society For Many Decades

In the world, our success and achievements are determined by how best we evaluate the situations presented to us in our daily lives and the effectiveness of our decision-making strategies. We might inadequately assess a certain problem and unknowingly take the wrong action, leading to unanticipated consequences. On the other hand, we can appropriately solve a situation and obtain results that will be of long-term significance to us. For instance, in a democracy, which is the form of government that is mostly practiced in many countries in the world, representative leaders are chosen or elected by the nation’s citizens. The few leaders are required to represent people from a particular region in various matters, including development and well-being. The citizens, in this case, are given a chance to decide by electing the most suitable leader they would prefer to represent them in parliament. Whether the decision made is right or wrong will be determined by evaluating the performance of that particular leader in representing the people who elected him or her after a specific period. In this case, the election is an ethical issue; the ballot is a decision, the leader is the outcome, and the performance is the consequence. The decisions we make concerning a certain issue might either affect us immediately or later, but the consequences, whether positive or negative, will have long-term implications on our lives. Therefore, it is always wise to consider everything related to a situation, an event or an activity that is dependent on our decision-making strategies because we might live to regret because we were given a choice but we eventually made the wrong decision.

We are faced with various ethical issues where we are required to evaluate their implications, and the consequences of the actions taken are the determinants of whether the decision made was either right or wrong. Our contemporary society and businesses are comprised of many people with different life aspects, creating a diverse world with a lot of variances in behaviors, opinions, ideologies, practices, emotions, and decisions, among others. The distinctions in these variables have significantly influenced our engagement in different activities, including business, social and political. In my life, I have interacted, intermingled and integrated with a lot of people having various discrepancies, and this has enhanced my knowledge and experiences of many conflicting ethical issues in the world. People have distinct views concerning the aspects constituting the social, economic and political society that have resulted in specific occurrences that either divide or strengthen their relationships in the global community. For instance, wars, which are divisive, are facilitated by conflicting opinions among certain aspects, such as ethnic groups. On the other hand, international organizations are unifying components that we create in different regions of the world to bring us together by having common goals and objectives. Therefore, ethical issues are elements that affect our social, economic and political global interaction and integration regarding different cultures from various communities. When the ethical issues are efficiently evaluated to enhance significant positive consequences, the outcomes are impressive, whereas if the evaluation leads to ethically wrong decisions, we might live to regret the decision we made concerning the apparent situation. Hence, the kinds of outcomes achieved are solely dependent on the efficiency and sufficiency of evaluation done concerning a particular situation. I am confident that if only we appropriately and adequately assess ethical issues with competency; some of the contemporary adverse implications influenced by the ethically wrong decision would be unknown to the global community.

Discrimination, segregation, and harassment have been ethical issues that have adversely affected our society for many decades. We have become irresponsible in how we interact and treat others such that our contemporary world is comprised of people who feel contempt for each other because of the actions of the generations before us. For example, when I was in the 2nd grade, I had always had a dispute with a certain kid from our neighborhood because I thought he was not giving me the respect I deserved, considering that I was bigger and older than him. I expected him to obey my instructions, including running small errands for me. Also, he was required to recognize and respect my superiority whenever the two of us were together at a particular place or event. All this I did to him without the knowledge of our parents or teachers since I had threatened to beat him if he attempted to tell anyone about how we related. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for him, a boy from our class noticed that I was mistreating the small him and decided to tell our class teacher, who later called our parents, mine and my victims, to discuss the issue. After some time, we were called to the teacher’s office, and we found everybody silent, but one could tell from their facial expressions that everything was as expected, not well. The teacher scolded me in front of my parents, and I have never felt victimized like that day since even my mother, who was my all-time supporter, could not utter a word. I felt like ignoring my moral standards and walking out of that room and going somewhere else away from them, but I didn’t. I thought that this would be disrespecting the teacher talking to me, my parents and the other boy’s parents, who sat unexpectedly calm and sympathetically gazing at me. Later that day, when we went home, my parents talked to me about the importance of humility and the effects of mistreating someone because I thought they were inferior to me. They told me that I was discriminating and I could have been unconsciously hurting the other kid emotionally, which might have had adverse implications on our relationship as we grew. They were not wrong since the boy never at one point saw me as his friend but as a bully. Hence, from that day, I vowed never to discriminate against others around me, inconsiderable of who they are or where they come from, as long as it would have significant negative impacts on how we relate later.

Reflecting on this childhood incident, I came to learn later that what I was doing to that small boy was harassing and discriminating against him because of his size and age. You will realize that our social, corporate and political societies are full of many individuals with behaviors and characters similar to mine before the intervention of my teacher and parents. One of the ethical issues that are pervasively and quietly affecting the world population is discrimination and harassment. It has become a daily or usual routine in contemporary society where individuals from minority groups are mistreated by those who consider themselves to be above others. Reflecting on the years before the middle 20th century, minority groups in the US were at risk of discrimination, harassment and segregation by the majority, in this case, the white Americans. Illustratively, the latter lived like they owned the country, and everything else within its boundaries, including the minorities such as African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians, were at their disposal to be used in any way they liked. The society constituted enmity because those above them unequally treated people. The whites were the sole decision-makers regardless of the consequences influenced by the actions taken and their implications on other individuals in the country. For instance, elections were conducted by the male whites only whether the others liked the leadership of those chosen was their problem since their opinions were inconsiderable in such issues. Hence, this adversely affected the minorities both physically and emotionally since most of them were used as slaves or laborers by the whites. Things became better after the enactment of certain laws prohibiting discrimination, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, where the US was made democracy and accommodative for all people regardless of their ethnic group or nationality.

However, decades later, things are almost the same without much significant change regarding discrimination, segregation, and harassment in the workplace and social and political arenas. People are still being discriminated against and harassed because of their color, race, nationality, sex, disabilities, class and religion. Contemporary society has become a place where if you are not from prestige variety, you are not welcome to have a better life and enjoy your rights freely. Discrimination and segregation in modern society have been transformed, and distinctions are now mainly based on class, disabilities and wealth, though others, such as race, sex and religion, are still rampant. Discrimination has become a costly ethical issue where the best social amenities and resources are preserved for the rich and those in the high class. The poor among us have almost zero influence or ownership of some of these resources. For instance, in every public educational facility where the poor and the rich freely integrate, it is most likely to find students segregated according to their social classes. The ones from the rich families always relate together while the others are left to intermingle and interact amongst themselves. The high-class students, who are mainly the seniors, harass the others who they consider inferior to them, making their lives unbearable in the institutions, which might result in their dropout or else seeking transfer to other favorable learning environments.

Moreover, in recent years, I have learned that these costly ethical issues are related to the corporate world, where employees and employers encounter daily situations that eventually lead to undesirable outcomes. Workplaces are faced with issues such as discrimination of races, pregnant women, nationalities and disabilities, sexual harassment and inequality pay. Some individuals are treated or paid better than others due to their distinctions. I did small research regarding harassment and discrimination in US organizations and realized that these corporations have losses of approximately $400 annually due to these ethical issues. Considering these figures, I am left wondering, who is to blame for these losses? Is it the employees or the employers? Undoubtedly, there is none to blame between the two individuals but the federal government. If only the federal and state governments in the US efficiently and sufficiently implemented the enacted laws concerning these ethical issues facing our corporate community, then the companies would not be experiencing such big losses. A just and equality-based judiciary would discourage the offenders from taking part in actions or making certain decisions that might ruin the performance and productivity of the businesses. For example, an employer is faced with a dilemma concerning male and female employees having a dispute of which both of them are wrong, although the manager has decided one of them must leave the company to allow the other to perform properly. Supposedly, the employer is male-oriented, so he decides to fire the female employee. According to EEOC, the woman has the right to file a lawsuit on legal terms of gender discrimination in the workplace, which will require the employer to appear before the court to justify his actions. If the court rules in favor of the employee, the employer will be discouraged from taking such action in the future without having properly evaluated the situation, depending on his decision-making strategies. However, in case the judge rules in favor of the business, the manager is likely to take similar action when faced with a worker-to-employer conflict in the future. Our governments have significant duties and responsibilities in ensuring that the right decisions are made in various workplaces where workers and employers are presented with a situation requiring ethical evaluation.

I find it inappropriate when some individuals are given priority over others, whereas they all have the same and equal rights and opportunities concerning a certain job. Furthermore, you may find that the individuals who are considered unfit and unworthy for a particular task or project are more qualified and experienced than the prioritized ones, but because of certain distinctions, they are opted out. Quoting President Trump, “The best investments are the ones that are always left out in a selection involving several options.” It implies that some issues go beyond the government and its arm of the judiciary; we have the responsibility of ensuring that the best decisions are made before undertaking a particular action to make sure that significant positive outcomes are obtained regarding a certain situation. Ethical decisions should be made on the basis of relevant variables but not those that are divisive and might result in unnecessary further confrontations just because one or more sides of the concerned parties feel that they have been handled unfairly. In corporate organizations, the managers and other leaders have to make sure that the best actions are taken if the businesses have to be productive. Allowing or taking part in discrimination and harassment of workers are some of the ethically wrong behaviors that lead to the failure or decline of the productivity of the businesses. Therefore, they should be at the frontline condemning such occurrences, and also ensuring that the offenders face the relevant consequential procedures. Doing this will be a step forward in creating a better future where the best and right decisions are made concerning certain ethical issues, such as discrimination and harassment in our public amenities and corporations.

We progressively make decisions that adversely affect our lives in society and corporations. We fail to sufficiently and efficiently assess certain situations, and we end up messing up everything, whereas, with the right actions, we could have obtained impressive results. Technology is one thing that has become a global utility and that is used on a daily basis such that no single household in the world that does not rely on it is inconsiderable of its magnitude. Modern technology advances have led to the emergence of many ethical issues in our contemporary society and corporations that have significant positive and negative implications on our lives regarding how best they are evaluated. Globalization enhancements have significantly contributed to the interaction and integration of the global community where different and conflicting ideologies and opinions are involved. The contributions have been enhanced by the invention of various pieces of equipment and devices that people utilize to interact and associate with one another. The manner in which we interact through technology is primarily dependent on our abilities and skills to ethically evaluate issues affecting us, including political distinctions, social lives, economic growth, health, and others. Inventions such as the internet have significantly contributed to the rampant increase in issues that attract different opinions and views. Whereas there are those among us who consider some of the decisions made regarding these issues to be correct, others think otherwise. For instance, the election of a new president means the establishment of a new administration that is different from the previous one; thus, a reshuffling must be done concerning the workforce to enhance its governance. The process includes firing some employees while hiring others, which is a delicate process since certain legal procedures have to be followed before the concerned individuals or groups make any decision. Change in administration and its employees is one of the ethical issues that can attract a lot of attention on the internet. Through social media, we tend to exchange our views regarding this issue, where some feel that the right decision-making influences the process, while others oppose it. The implications of this are that the distinctions surrounding this issue will either bring division or unity among social media users. The supporters and the opponents will simultaneously unify because each group thinks the other is wrong, while at the same time, they are divided in their viewpoints. It is not surprising to find two groups within or outside a country, community or culture insulting and engaging each other in a cold war on the social media platform because of certain decisions made by the elite few in society.

Additionally, in contemporary society, technology has become a crime hub where all manner of criminal activities are conducted. A variety of information is loaded onto the internet such that we are only required to have computers and other devices and be in a position to utilize them to access the internet and download whatever we need. Pornography and terrorism are some of the issues that have pervasively affected our societies, especially among young people who are dangerously exposed to electronic pieces of equipment, including smartphones, laptops, televisions and other materials such as magazines. It is not an unusual thing to learn that an unknown person has hacked your friend’s computer, and essential and confidential information was stolen. We need to look back in times before these technological advances were made and reflect on the kind of society we would be having if we still lived like those days. I believe that the prevalent ethical issues that are significantly eroding our behaviors and ethics would be unknown to many of us and perhaps would be having more civilized moral standards and uprightness. Although it might seem difficult to live without most of these devices now that they have become an integral part of our lives, can you imagine a world without worrying what your son and daughter might be doing with his or her phone or laptop? A society without regularly monitoring your child’s social media pages to prevent him or her from being exposed to immoral and unethical behaviors, what do you think it would like? It is time now we began thinking about how technology has adversely influenced the deterioration of our moral responsibilities and standards and transformed our society into a dwelling of all manner of unethical behaviors. I am not implying that we should do away with these electronic devices since that is impossible, and even I cannot support the notion, but certain procedures and practices should be established to regulate how we utilize them. Illustratively, the most suitable solution to these prevalent ethical issues lies in our hands. It implies that only we can create a society that is comprised of morally upright people right from the youngest to the oldest by evaluating ourselves, where we have come from, our current situation and where we are headed. By being united in this, I am confident that we can reduce the costs we are forced to pay when dealing with these ethical issues. We can raise our children to be respectable and morally upright people and properly equipped to educate future generations on the right paths to follow in life that are not based on greed, selfishness and other defective behaviors.

Economic and technological stabilities among the developed countries in the world, such as the US, China, Japan, Russia, Germany and the UK, have significantly augmented their greed for power. Over the years since the end of the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union in 1991, the former has been the world’s super dominance and has been known as the primary counter to terrorism. However, other strong nations are rising, and they desire to claim power from the US, which is unlikely that it will just let go without taking any action in an attempt to preserve the power. An ethical issue emerges in this battle of being super dominant, and we might need to ask ourselves several significant questions: to what extent can America go to ensure that it retains its super dominance? What can the other interested countries do to acquire the power? It would be ethically wrong to start assuming things at this stage since we are still yet to capture what might be involved among these nations in the attempt to achieve their political needs. Probably, the only thing we can do is to lay back and wait for updates regarding the notion. However, whatever outcome, if there will be any, would have a significant impact on the global community. The struggle for super dominance does not involve the rivaling parties only but also we, the common citizens, because even that ordinary poor man from the interior parts of the least developing country will feel the impacts. For example, in the 1990s, two regions on the world map, the Eastern and the Western Blocs, competed for the prestige of being the superpower. The global economy was adversely affected since different nations correlated with each other, and the situation at that time could not allow some activities, such as trading, to take place. Hence, it will be a matter of these nations to evaluate their ethical and moral standards to establish the effects their motives to satisfy their political needs will bring to the world and its occupants. We, the ordinary people, have little to contribute in circumventing this ethical issue but we have the power to let our opinions be respected by those in better positions to take the necessary and appropriate actions concerning the current situation. It would be unwise if we just sit back and presume that this ethical issue has nothing to do with us. In fact, this problem affects the common citizens more than it does the leaders we look up to for direction. We have the obligation of contributing to the issue to make sure that the situation is efficiently assessed and to enable the concerned parties to make the right decisions that will insignificantly affect us or future generations. Technology has made everything easy by bringing our leaders’ ears right before our mouths because it provides the means to speak our thoughts and give our views concerning the ethical issues that we feel have significant implications. Hence, through the various social media platforms at our disposal, we should influence the decision-making process of these power-oriented individuals representing these nations.

Whether we like it or not, we are responsible for most, if not all, of the natural occurrences in different parts of the world. The actions we take and the decisions we make might not affect us immediately, but later, they will certainly have significant implications, and that is when we start blaming nature, whereas we unconsciously or consciously bring the adversaries to ourselves. What is the primary cause of global warming? What are some of the causes of tsunamis and earthquakes? What are the primary causes of drought? Undoubtedly, answering these questions correctly will lead you back to what man did or has done to the environment. We have become economically, socially and politically oriented to the extent we almost forget the significance of the ecosystem in our existence. Would there be a drought if we stopped encroaching into our forests to build restaurants and recreational centers? Would we be experiencing global warming if we regulated the hazardous gasses emitted into the atmosphere? What if we stopped artificial explosions on the sea beds? Would there be such a prevalence of tsunamis in the world as it is today? The basic answer to these three questions is no. Environmentalism is an ethical issue in our contemporary society that should become an integral part of our lives and requires a lot of attention. It is through the life of our ecosystem that we live, and by destroying it for our gains, we are no better than a lion that inconsiderably kills and eats an antelope, unaware or without caring about the consequences of its actions. We have a moral obligation to preserve our environment because everything we use in our daily lives comes from it. I cannot build a house without the necessary raw materials, and the only place I can obtain them is from the environment. I cannot eat or dress without relying on the environment to provide me with the necessities needed. Hence, if we cannot survive without depending on the environment; why are we harming it then? Let us not be like the lion that takes an action unconscious of the consequences; instead, we should have moral obligations to ensure that we preserve all our natural resources and everything in our ecosystem that we cannot live without. Other generations will feel the impacts of our actions, and they will be glad that we took part in making the right decision to create a better and safer environment for them.

As I conclude, I feel it is our moral responsibility to create a world that is accommodative for all, regardless of where we come from or our ethnic groups in the world. Contemporary society has a lot of ethical issues that directly or indirectly affect our lives, and we are vulnerable to the consequences of the decisions we make regarding them. We might ignore the significance of the outcomes because they do not affect us immediately, but later, we will regret and play blame games just because we were reluctant to take action when we had a chance. The repercussions of these ethical issues might take a long to develop, but upon evolving, it will be a no-turning point because there will be limited options to be utilized as solutions. Therefore, it is better to make hay while it shines since that will be impossible when it rains. The best time to take action or make a decision is only when we have the chance before everything gets out of our hands and we are unable to take control. Our moral ethics and standards should be the primary guidelines we should use when making decisions regarding ethical issues. A right decision will lead to significant positive outcomes, while a wrong one will adversely implicate our lives and those of other people in the future. Therefore, ethical issues are not what we should be concerned with, but how we evaluate the situations to make a decision regarding these problems is the primary consideration.