module 7--global ethics

Global ethics/ Global society.

The very first way I can recall that connects my participation on a global ethics issue was when we contributed rice by answering questions on a website. This set of actions was an easy way to help an endeavor of a larger scale and contributed to a crisis on a global level. It seems that in this fast paced and competitive society we participate in, basic needs and daily life are taken for granted. On a global scale people still suffer on a basic level with no food, shelter, and health care, among other needs. I felt a sense of humility and was humbled when all it took were a couple of minutes from me to make a difference in the world. Who knows to what extent my contribution made, but nonetheless it was a small attempt to help.

My thought of a global ethics transcending across cultures and religions is that it is inevitable and to some extent needed. Although we create and organize in different ways across the world, there is always a very basic connectivity on a human level. I feel that we share Earth, so we must be conscious of others needs' and place in the world. It is hard to create a global society that will agree on wide ranging issues because there are so many intricate difference between cultures, beliefs, religions, and politics. Yet, there must be compromises and respect on a global scale, so as to help preserve those individual differences, and collectively preserve human needs and life. I have not the answer, but this is my brief opinion.

Prime Minister Brown provides a very visual account of global ethic, and does a n excellent job in describing the current measures that exist in creating a global society. As stated by Prime Minister Brown, in his talk presented on ted.com, at the 11 minute 12 second mark "... you need that global ethic of fairness and responsibility across the generations," (TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, 2009). These values really highlighted to me what type of change needs to be promoted to people across global demographics. This lead me to think that by creating a more guiding set of basic characteristics of expression for other human’s needs can help foster a global society. There needs to be a level of caring created more deeply, and fairness and responsibility are prime to this goal.

A current global ethic that can be further explored, in my opinion, deals with the issue of illegal immigration in the United States. Although there is a clear violation of Unites States Law, there needs to be a more contextual understanding of what these individuals and families are experiencing. The issue is not an easy resolve, but basic human rights at times are ignored for people crossing the desert borders. Instead of letting these individuals suffer in their own country, or die and risk life to reach the United States, why not strengthen relationships with the neighboring countries to create guest worker programs? Could there be a database created that tracks available jobs in the United States and connects people looking for work in a neighbor country, then has a tool for creating a way to properly and legally acquire set job and enter the country to accept this job? A great deal of computer access would need to be created for people in neighboring countries, but it could work like many job search engines that citizens currently use to search for employment and post resumes, etc. There would have to be a connection between employer, job seeker of foreign country, U.S government, Foreign government. The governments would need to create tools that process and explain the limitations, and provide entry across borders. These tools can screen and process the proper documents and resources needed to gain legalization, residency, and status. Just a thought...

A great ethical scenario I can recall deals with a friend who was fired from a job. He worked for a youth program. To this day he says he wished he could have done things differently because it was the best job he ever had, and will have. He created strong bonds and relationships with the staff and members of the program. He was also responsible for creating the lesson planning and overall program design of several programs in the organization. Through the years the management and structure of the organization changed. He was at a crossroads at one point in his career, where he felt his contribution to organization was above and beyond the vision of the new management. The organization had a positive design for the future of the program, it was just different to what he was a part of for many years. He felt constricted within his own designed programs and contributions, they were being changed. New collaborations and guidelines being implemented led to frustration with the new management and they had to part ways, both unhappy. Nonetheless he understood what had happened. Could he have dealt with scenario differently, he absolutely felt he could have. he later understood that his values and the goals of the organization were too similar. That should have been more important than any detail of programming, or organized delivery that was being implemented by the new management.


Reference:

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading (July, 2009) Talks Gordon Brown: Wiring a Web for Global Good. TED Conferences, LLC. [Videofile] Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/gordon_brown.html