Ignoring Ethics

This article was written by Rushworth M. Kidder who is the president of the Institute for Global Ethics. He argues that society is developing all new sorts of technology and disregarding their "moral and ethical consequences." He tells the story of when he went to visit the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. There was an explosion in April 1986 and Kidder learns its cause. On the night of the accident, two electrical engineers were experimenting with equipment they were not authorized to be using. In order to do their experiment they had to override six alarm systems. The first system shouted "Stop, go no further, terribly dangerous." The men went on anyway and faced awful consequences. Kidder states that these men were intelligent humans but lacked the "sense of a conscience, the understanding of ethics." He later on states that the ethics in our society have only gotten worth throughout time. The prime example from the 21st century is that The Human Genome Project will cause a huge employment issue. Employers are told specifically at what age their potential employees will be sick and no longer able to work for their company, or it will tell them that their health insurance is going to increase so they will be responsible for that payment. Kidder feels that employers should have no record of their employee's genomes because it is "essentially a question of ethics." He blames this whole situation primarily on the school systems who spend their time teaching about the technology itself but forget to include why these new inventions are unethical. It is even recorded that sixty-five percent of high school students admitted that they would cheat on an important exam in order to pass it. Also a Louis Harris poll for the Girl Scouts asked 5,000 American students who they hold the greatest amount of trust in. Expecting the answer to be in sciences or media, they were wrong. They said the only person they trust is him or her self. Kidder does have hope however. He states that as our country gains knowledge, values can improved. The more experience this world has with life itself, the better individuals' values and ethics should become. This is exactly what Kidder's goal is by being president of the Institute for Global Ethics. Their aim is to "track value shifts as we move into the new century." Hopefully with their hard work and cooperation of the citizens in America, the nation will continue to progress and make ethical decisions.

Kidder, Rushworth M. "Ethics for the Twenty-First Century." Opposing Viewpoints: American Beyond 2001. Ed. Oliver W. Markley and Walter R. McCuan. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 7 Feb 2010. http://find.galegroup.com..