Social Ethics - For The Good Of All
Social ethics are sometimes confused with moral behavior because it is the “ethics” that keep others from inflicting harm or damage to others.
Ethics has become a very big business in the last several years. There are many ethics companies, instructors and training material that are offered to all kinds of businesses. Social ethics is one of those that is expected from the public, but never really taken into consideration when training is implemented within a business. It is one of those things that is just expected and all too often, taken for granted.
As a society we have expectations that everyone works for the good of society and will come to the aid of those in need. What happens when there are people that seem to do neither and are only concerned with their own good. For most, social ethics is something that is ingrained from the time that they were a small child, but for others they lack in any ethical responsibility. The lack of ethics can cost suffering at several different levels including human suffering, financial loss and emotional distress.
Of course the human suffering from lack of responsible individuals is the greatest cost of a lack of social ethics. If researchers, business leaders and others do not show compassion and concern for the good of society what is the cost? It is limitless and can not only destroy the environment, trust, but also human life. Researchers are held to a high standard because experiments can cost lives, deformities and other detrimental effects. Think about those that work in restaurants or other food preparation areas, do you want them to lack social responsibility or ethics? The second largest area of detriment from the lack of social ethics is the financial loss every year. Not only do businesses suffer, but so do people personally. What about those that steal from the retail markets or grocers. This drives prices up and guess who gets to pay for those goods that are taken illegally? Businesses suffer in many instances being forced to pay for the merchandise that was taken from the store. Also the recent identity theft issues and check stealing practices. Someone is the victim in those cases and usually takes years before the mess is completely cleared. Not only can thieves steal thousands of dollars the victims feel violated as well. No different then when you walk in your home to find that someone has burglarized your home. There is really no training for the general public when it comes to how to be a good citizen. Businesses are expected to hire individuals with good social ethics in order to protect their business and customers. Sometimes this is difficult, because how do you determine someone’s social ethics and convictions? It is not that easy and that is the reason that businesses spend thousands every year trying to ensure that their employees are educated on ethical practices to deter illegal or immoral activities. Unfortunately many times the ethics training is geared at the business only, but at least employees are getting some type of training!
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