The Underground Railroad Essay -- History Historical Slavery Essays

The Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was one of the most remarkable protests against slavery in United States history. It was a fight for personal survival, which many slaves lost in trying to attain their freedom. Slaves fought for their own existence in trying to keep with the traditions of their homeland, their homes in which they were so brutally taken away from. In all of this turmoil however they managed to preserve the customs and traditions of their native land. These slaves fought for their existence and for their cultural heritage with the help of many people and places along the path we now call the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a secret operation that began during the 19th century, and reached its peak during the time of 1830 – 1865. The story of the Underground Railroad was one of individual sacrifice and great courage in the efforts of the African American people to reach freedom, with the help of many interconnected â€Å"stations† (Introduction to the Underground Railroad?). The number of sites connected with the Underground Railroad was immense. The Underground Railroad was any direction slaves traveled to freedom. It was a huge scheme of paths through marshes, over mountains, along rivers, and by sea. No real trains existed on the Underground Railroad, but guides were called conductors. Runaways escaped to the North along a series of routes that stretched through the southern Border States (â€Å"History and Geography†). Slaves who escaped into the western territories, Mexico and the Caribbean, then tried to blend in with the free African American communities, which lived in these areas (Slavery’s Past). There were many conductors in many different states, all of which were important to the Underground Railroad. The most notable of these was Harriet Tubman. Harriet made nineteen trips back to Slave States to help members of her family and other slaves to escape to freedom. She was a woman who could not read or write, but she helped over three hundred slaves to their freedom. She had many encounters with slave traders and others, who tried to capture her, but she never got caught, and she never lost a single slave (Harriet Tubman). Another important figure in the Underground Railroad was Stephen Myers. Stephen Myers helped the Underground Railroad from 1830 to 1850. In this time he helped thousands o... ...ic linking the people of Africa and America. It is a story of places, North and South. It is a story of secrets involving routes and language, codes and music. In the end it is a story of jubilation and freedom, bought at a great price by individuals. Works Cited African Genesis. History and Geography of the Underground Railroad. Nov. 7, 2000 Appleseed Recording. Free at Last.1998 Cairnes, John E. Slavery’s Past. Lilly W. The Underground Railroad. June 16, 1999 Maryland’s African American Heritage. Harriet Tubman. Siebert, Wilbur. The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. New York: Arno Press and the New York Times 1968 U.C. Davis Division of Education. The Freedom Sympathizers and Fighters. May 1996 U.C. Davis Division of Education. What was The Underground Railroad?. May 1996. Underground Railroad Workshop. Able Brown. 2000 Underground Railroad Workshop. Stephen Myers. 2000 Underground Railroad Workshop. The role of the Quaker Community. 2000 United States. National Park Service. Introduction to the Underground Railroad. United States. National Park Service & History Association. In Search of Freedom. August 1996

American Indian Stories Essay -- essays research papers fc

In American Indian Stories, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London edition, the author, Zitkala-Sa, tries to tell stories that depicted life growing up on a reservation. Her stories showed how Native Americans reacted to the white man’s ways of running the land and changing the life of Indians. â€Å"Zitkala-Sa was one of the early Indian writers to record tribal legends and tales from oral tradition† (back cover) is a great way to show that the author’s stories were based upon actual events in her life as a Dakota Sioux Indian. This essay will describe and analyze Native American life as described by Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian Stories, it will relate to Native Americans and their interactions with American societies, it will discuss the major themes of the book and why the author wrote it, it will describe Native American society, its values and its beliefs and how they changed and it will show how Native Americans views other non-Natives. Before the introduction of the â€Å"pale face† Native Americans lived a calm and serene life. They lived in big communities and help one another in order to survive. They had a form of religion, poly-theistic, that would be their main form of salvation. They had chiefs and warriors. They had teepees that would allow them to quickly pack up and move. The Native Americans were a nomadic, primitive people that did not live up to the whiter man’s view of â€Å"civilization†. However, the white man, pale face, felt the need to change the Native Americans barbaric ways of life. The Americans were smart in their efforts in trying to convert the Indians. They would go after the kids because they were still young and gullible. â€Å"Yes, my child, several others besides Judewin are going away with the palefaces. Your brother said the missionaries had inquired about his little sister... â€Å"Did he tell them to take me, mother† (40). The children were impressiona ble. In this first story, the daughter gets hooked on going with the missionaries because they said they had apple trees and being that she has never seen an apple tree, she begged her mother to go not knowing that her mother did not want to send her away. Some Indians enjoyed leaving with the Americans; others did not because of what the Americans had done to the Indians. The mother in this story had told her daughter stories of what the paleface had done and how they had killed most... ...ew that the Americans came in and killed their ancestors and forced others to leave their lands. They knew that they were taking their children away and brainwashing them into thinking that their families were savages and that the Americans had more to offer them. They knew that the Americans were making their kids forget about their ways of living and their beliefs. The children, however, saw the Americans invitation as a way to better themselves and their families. The children would happily go away with the American strangers thinking that everything would be better for them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Zitkala-Sa tried to show how her people were treated by Americans in her book American Indian Stories. She showed how the Indians life was before the Americans and how it had changed after the introduction of the Americans. She proved that not all of the Indians liked the white people. She proved that most of the children that left did not remember their family’s way of life. She proved that when the Americans came they not only took the Indians’ land, they also took their people. Works Cited Zitkala-Sa. American Indian Stories. University Of Nebraska Press. Lincoln and Lo

Effect smoking has on our society Essay

Smoking cigarettes have been determined to be responsible for the premature death of over 400,000 people each year in the United States. It has been described as the single most preventable disease today. This paper will cover a basic overview of the history of smoking, advertising, health findings, and legal liability realized from cigarette manufactures. The current trends and laws concerning the use of tobacco will also be addressed. Most of us know that George Washington was America’s first President of the United States. This is common knowledge and still taught today in public schools. However, one of the more astonishing facts that is generally not discussed is that George Washington inherited an enormous tobacco plantation that was comprised of 10,000 acres of land as well as approximately 50 slaves who were transported to the Americas from Africa. Because of the rising prices of tobacco in the 1730’s, George Washington at the age of 21 was one of the wealthiest men in Virginia. (Badertscher, 2005, p.2). Could this have been one of the first accounts that sociologist Karl Marx (1818-1883) assessed when formulating his theory of social conflict. In the example of George Washington and his tobacco plantation, capitalism and the alienation that it produced among its slaves, who were tirelessly working in the tobacco fields was rampant during that time and also making George Washington a very rich man. The popularity of smoking in the 1700’s would continue to grow for the next 200 years in the United States. Along with this path little if any regulation from our government would follow. Because of the addictive qualities that are a part of the cigarette and its tobacco, our society would slowly and unknowingly become addicted. Many years would go by and by the beginning part of the twentieth century; cigarette manufacturers such as RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris were spending over 8 million dollars in advertising each year. By the 1920’s tobacco and cigarette consumption was taking hold in the United States. Cigarette smoking was not only common, but it was increasingly being more fashionable. Originally gender stratification provided that is was unbecoming or a private matter at best that woman would be cigarette smokers. Yet in advertising, pretty woman were often used and eventually once tobacco giants realized that woman were also an enormous market share, their creativeness and opportunist as a capitalist took hold. During the 1920’s, Lucky Strike, a leader in striking tobacco claims finally went right after the female with no regard of gender bias. One of their famous campaign slogans, â€Å"Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet† instantly played on the ability of a woman to stay thin by asserting the benefits of smoking a cigarette as an appetite suppressant.(Gardner, 2006, p.222-224). Unsubstantiated claims were common, by the 1940’s, an advertising agency by the name of , the William Esty Company worked exclusively for R.J Reynolds, here they developed their own surveys, often giving out free cartons of cigarettes to their newest spokespeople, doctors. Here they employed a gallant tactic. Because of the fact that so many people smoked cigarettes, including doctors, the cigarette companies went for the most trusted people of that time. For the next 6 years, beginning in 1946, their memorable slogan would read, â€Å"More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette† They listed this as fact and claim to survey thousands of doctors, it would be discovered that these questionnaires would always include a free supply of cigarettes to the respondents. (Gardner, 2006, p. 224-225) By the beginning of 1950, the health concerns from smoking tobacco could no longer go unnoticed. Consequently, cigarette makers would stop picturing doctors in their advertisements, but next they would include the likes of celebrities, such as sports figures and movie stars. In 1961, several groups including the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association wrote President John F. Kennedy and asked that the United States Government take an active role in measuring the health consequences of using tobacco. Several years later in 1964, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service released the first report on tobacco smoking and related issues concerning a smoker’s health. The findings showed that cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer in men, the most important cause of chronic bronchitis and a probable cause of cancer in woman. The Surgeon General also stipulated that every year a new report would be released. (Terry, 1964). Next, the United States Congress would enact the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 and also the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969. Cigarette makers would now be required to put a health warning on the side of a cigarette package, warning the users of its dangers. It also for the first time put certain restrictions on the types of advertising that cigarette manufactures could employ. (cite) As an example of sociological evolution, computer technology would allow for a vast amount of statistics to compile. During this same period, data was showing a huge number of premature deaths and exclusive illnesses directly related to tobacco users. Conversely, cigarette manufactures were able to more closely follow their target market. The television would eventually be eliminated as a method of advertising, however the magazine, radio, internet and United States Postal service would allow for a huge audience of smokers and future smokers to be reached. Now fast forward to the 1990’s, and by 1998 the Center for disease control and prevention (CDC) the United States governments â€Å"official† fact finder determined by using a basic two question survey as their research method, that there were 47.2 million adult smokers which represented 24% of the population. During this same time period, from the years of 1995-1999, figures and estimates were showing that 440,000 people were dying prematurely each year due to smoking. Hospital and health care costs were skyrocketing. Liability was becoming a costly issue for the cigarette giants. (Leverett, 2002, p. 88). 13 states brought immense lawsuits against the cigarette manufactures and eventually won in a landmark settlement in 1998. The settlement involved medical expenses incurred by smokers, insurance companies, workers compensation and Medicare costs. It would include payments to each of the 13 states until the year 2025 to the sum of 196 billion dollars.(Coller, 2002,p.984) Tobacco usage is by far not limited to the United States. To best explain its usage today is to reveal the number of deaths attributed to smoking on a worldwide level. World-wide each year over 5 million people will die from cigarette smoking and estimates that 10 million deaths per year is possible by the year 2025. It is also estimated that if cigarette consumption continues matched with new emerging markets. That by 2030, one human being will die every four seconds from the negative effects of cigarette smoking. (Tomlinson, 1997, p. 3). Cigarette manufacturers are still entering new markets throughout the world today. As of 2010, Phillip Morris International has their product available for sale in 160 countries. In the near future, small developing countries such as, South Korea and Vietnam will also be captive to this epidemic situation and will eventually be included in dark future statistics. Because of the extreme danger and liability concerns, secondhand smoke is now another area of contention. Secondhand smoke is defined as a mixture of side stream smoke from the end of a burning cigarette and exhaled mainstream smoke.(Jarvie, 2008,p. 2140) It has also been identified that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer, respiratory tract injury, and heart disease. Over 50 carcinogens have been recognized in secondhand smoke.(Malone, 2008, 2145) The American Lung Association has compiled an enormous data bank of information concerning the devastating statistics with tobacco use of American citizens. There are 443,000 deaths each year that are attributed to smoking tobacco. In 2004, it was determined that smoking cost the U.S. nearly 193 billion dollars. This included 96 billion dollars in health care costs and 97 billion dollars lost in productivity. This amounts to $4,260 per year, per adult smoker. (CDCP, 2004). It has been determined that cigarettes contain over 4,800 different chemicals and 69 of them are known to cause cancer. Chronic lung disease accounts for 73 percent of smoking related conditions. It has been determined that smokers die at a faster rate than non-smokers. On average a smoker’s life is shortened by 13.2 years for an adult male and 14.5 years for an adult woman. (CDCP 2006). Statistics are meaningless when it comes to measuring the level of pain and discomfort that a person will experience by smoking regularly for a lengthy period of time. The list goes on for painful, serious diseases caused by smoking tobacco, as most smokers will not experience instant death. The diseases caused by smoking include; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), this includes chronic bronchitis, and emphysema, coronary heart disease, stroke, abdominal acute aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, pneumonia, periodontitis, and bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, throat, cervical, kidney, stomach and pancreatic cancers. (Surgeon general 2004). Workplaces throughout the United States are going smoke free to provide clean indoor air and protecting employees from life threatening effects of second hand smoke. Nearly 70 percent of the U.S. work force worked under a smoke free policy in 1999. (Gibson, 2001). Finally in June of 2009, 45 years after the 1964 Surgeon Generals first report on the hazards of cigarette smoking, President of the United States Barack Obama signed the Tobacco Control Act. This gives the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate and control tobacco. It does not give them the authority to ban cigarettes or remove nicotine all together. They are still evaluating whether or not they will reduce the amounts of nicotine in cigarettes. They are also granted the power to regulate advertising and the promotion of tobacco in the United States, which to include the possibility of graphic pictures and labeling on the package of cigarettes. (FDA cite) Today 165 countries have signed on to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The treaty joins these countries to adopt current and future policies regarding and limiting the use of tobacco. As well as enforcing tighter control on advertising and packaging of tobacco. (Tynan, 2010, p3). As a result of the alarming numbers and data showing the ill effects of cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke, governments are starting to wake up and fight back at these large wealthy cigarette manufactures. The Australian High Court has upheld one of the world’s toughest tobacco rules. Once again after lengthy court battles between the giant cigarette manufactures and the Australian government, new cigarette labeling laws has gone into effect at the time of this writing. Beginning December 2012, the court has paved the right for extreme restrictive cigarette package labeling to go into effect. Cigarette packs in Australia now must display graphic images of mouth cancer, diseased lungs and gangrenous limbs. In addition, brand logos are banned and these graphic images dominate the entire package. British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco, Japan Tobacco, and Philip Morris International had all argued that a ban on brand logos would infringe on their intellectual property rights. The High Court of Australia rejected their argument. Now industry analysts feel that this may propel other countries to follow suit with this type of restrictive labeling. The ruling was welcomed by Australian officials, with hopes to drive cigarette sales down even further, coupled with the extremely high taxation already imposed on the sale of tobacco in Australia. Today smokers in Australia spend on average, $16.80 (us dollars) on one pack of cigarettes. The new law will require health warnings to cover 75 percent of the front of the cigarette package and cover 90 percent of the back of the package. According to the Australian Cancer Council, as of 2010, smoking rates have declined, but still remain at 16.4 percent among adult men and 13.9 percent among adult women. In the U. S., the figures from the Center for Disease Control show the smoking rate to be 21.5 percent for adult men and 17.3 percent for adult women.(Siegal, 2012). Also this year in the Ukraine, all advertising including, television, radio, print, internet, coupons, even advertising on the counter at a point of sale is banned. (Target, 2012,p1) While these two markets are comparably small in size, the message that is being sent to the cigarette manufacturer and to the world is enormous. By representing the best interest of the non-addicted citizen, governments are finally starting to stand up, take action and force the issue. It appears that these types of small countries are at least willing to interact and negotiate with the giant lobbyist’s that are so commonly found in giant governments like the United States of America. Finally in the United States, individual states are establishing smoking restrictions in public spaces and public buildings. Today over 70% of the United States population is represented by some type of smoking regulation in public spaces. (cite) After many failed attempts at passing substantial legislation limiting the locations where cigarette smokers can smoke cigarettes, the state of Indiana in July of 2012 has enacted a new no smoking policy throughout the state in regard to public buildings. Smoking is now prohibited in all public spaces, including retail establishments and restaurants. Concessions had to be made to casino and bars as the state predicted tax revenue could drop nearly 190 million dollars per year by not allowing people to smoke here. While a major argument was for the betterment of workplace safety, last minute provisions were included to allow smoking in nursing homes and fraternal clubs located throughout the state. (cite in.gov) Constantly big tobacco companies are still grabbing headlines in today’s newspapers. This past week on November 30, 2012, a federal judge has ordered tobacco companies to publish statements that require them to publicly admit that they had repeatedly lied to the public about the known dangers of smoking and that they disclose the known health effects, including the death on average of 1,200 people per day. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler previously has said she wanted the cigarette industry to pay for corrective advertisements. But know the judge is laying out what she wants the cigarette giants to say. Each advertisement is to include a statement from the defendant tobacco companies that says, â€Å"Deliberately deceived the American public about the health effects of smoking.† The required statements are to include,†That smoking kills more people than murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes and alcohol combined†. Also, â€Å"That secondhand smoke kills over 3,000 Americans each year.† These corrective statements are part of a case the government initiated in 1999. Judge Kessler ruled on that case in 2006 that the nation’s largest cigarette makers hid the dangers of smoking for decades from the public and that she wanted the smoking industry to pay for corrective advertising. The Justice Department proposed most of the legal wording and worked in conjunction with Judge Kessler. Kessler went on to write, â€Å"That all findings are based on factual evidence that was proven by a court of law†. She goes to say, â€Å"The court has made a number of explicit findings that the tobacco companies perpetuated fraud and deceived the public regarding the addictiveness of cigarettes and nicotine. A spokesperson for the nation’s biggest tobacco company, Philip Morris USA, said they were studying the court’s decision and that they had no further comment. The unfortunate part of this story is that, the ending is not here. This case had begun in 1999 and nearly fourteen years later, the cigarette conglomerates are still managing to attempt to skirt these horrendous issues. Today there are many tools and opportunities to help a person stop smoking. There are seven different medications approved by the FDA to help a person quit smoking. The nicotine patch, nicotine gum, and nicotine lozenges are available as over the counter medicine. A nasal spray and inhaler are available by prescription. Name brand prescription such as Zyban and Chantix are non-nicotine pills that can also be used to help stop smoking. A national help program, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, can be accessed anywhere in the United States and is a free program sponsored by individual states and the Department of Health and Human Services. They offer new personal innovative tools to help individuals stop smoking, and include free counseling and free nicotine patches. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug, which when inhaled reaches the brain faster than drugs that enter the body intravenously. Quitting smoking usually takes multiple attempts. If someone is serious about stopping smoking, here is a valuable service to extend those possibilities. We teach our children about the Presidency of the United States. It includes our first President George Washington, a story about a cherry tree, and a maybe even more propaganda, that he could not tell a lie. Nowhere is there a mention of his greatest truth. He was one of our forefathers of tobacco. Then followed almost 300 years, mixed with another great giant of America, which is capitalism. What comes next is a society that is heavily addicted to cigarette smoking and unquestionably very sick from the dangers of over 4,800 chemicals that are comprised of the cigarette. When people become addicted to something that is more powerful than them and unable to stop it from continuing, they then develop defense mechanisms that prevent themselves from seeing the truth. September 11, 2001 was a day where U.S. soil became a target of terrorist attacks, and a day that will never be forgotten. A sad remembered day when 2,996 people perished. In the next 12 months, there will be 443,000 more people who will die, this time from the negative effects of cigarette smoking. This is equivalent to the United States of America having an attack on United States soil every two and a half days, and counting. References Badertscher, Eric. (2005) George Washington. Great Neck Publishing. Retrieved on September 28, 2012 from Ebscohost database. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/ Coller, Maribeth. (2002) Evaluating the Tobacco Settlement Damages: Too Much or Not Enough. American Journal of Public Health. Retrieved on September 28, 2012 From Proquest database. http://search.proquest.com.allstate.1bproxy. Gardner, Martha. (2006). The Doctor’s Choice is America’s Choice. American Journal Of Public Health. Retrieved on September 18, 2012 from Proquest data base. Indiana Ok’s Smoking Smoking Ban. (2012). Retrieved on September 16, 2012 from http://www.In.gov/legislative/bills/2012/he/he1149.l.html Jarvie, Jill. (2008). Children’s Secondhans Smoke Exposure in Private Homes and Cars. American Journal of Public Health. 2140-5. Retrieved on September 20, 2012 From Proquest Database. Leverett, Michelle. (2002). Tobacco Use: The Impact of Prices. The Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics. Retrieved on September 26, 2012 from Proquest database. Plain Cigarette Packs in Australia. (2012) The Lancet Journal. Retrieved on September 28, 2012 from Proquest database. Tobacco expands their Epidemic of Death. (2011). Elsvier Limited. Retrieved on September 28, 2012 from Proquest database. Tobacco Products and Advertising is Banned in Ukraine. (2012). Targeted News Service. Retrieved on September 24, 2012 from Proquest database. Tomlinson, Richard. (1997) Smoking Death Toll Shifts to Third World. British Medical Journal. Retrieved on September 28, 2012 from Proquest database. Tynan, Martha. (2010). Current Opportunities in Tobacco Control. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Retrieved on September 26, 2012 from Proquest databas

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Role in Advancing the Black Civil Rights

Looking back at the advancement of civil rights throughout the period 1865-1968, it is understandable to see Martin Luther King as the major player and leader. He was seen by many as a figurehead of the campaign, with his ‘mesmerism's oratorical ability he gave a lot of people inspiration and a man to lead the line to the end of racism in the United States. Undoubtedly, Martin Luther King did a lot to advance lack civil rights until his death in 1968, namely the 1964 Civil Rights Act.However, many historians until around the sass were too easy to go for the king centric approach in which black civil rights started in 1955 and ended in 1968. Not to take any credit away from King, the civil rights movement far exceeded of that during this period. Of curse and with great reason, resistance to race discrimination had been developing ever since the start of race discrimination itself, but it arguably only darted to pick up real pace with the 1863 Emancipation proclamation and the pa ssing of the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868.This gave black people De Cure rights across all stated, But, discrimination continued throughout this period with Jim Crow legislation and the ASK among other things, the fight continued for De facto rights. In response, many organizations emerged. These organizations attracted widespread attention and support with their mostly non-violent action, fighting for not only legislation but to gather public support.These organizations and Individuals existed ND made valuable progress long before Martin Luther King and continued long after his death, as cited by veteran civil rights activist Ella Baker, ‘Martin didn't make the movement, the movement made Martin'. Outside factors cannot be understated with the media, politicians and Judges being some of the few also Involved. But It Is natural to want to put Individuals responsible for great moments In history, It Is questionable whether Martin Luther King was the most Important facto towards the advancement of Civil Rights between 1863 and 1968.

Analysing People Oriented Methodology And Its Ethics Philosophy Essay

Analysing People Oriented Methodology And Its Ethics Philosophy Essay People oriented methodology is mainly focused on obtaining the ethical position of every individual. It emphasizes more on ethics which is a participative approach of human or people who might be the stakeholders or users. It also highlight’s that users are deeply involved in the development process and take control over the stages, it means that the users are also involved in the decision making process and fully committed to the IS development. People oriented methodology can be applied to a system which really involves various types of people. It is normally a difficult task of making the users getting involved in to the development stages, but still the involvement of users from the top level management to the staff level is required in order to avoid some thoughts of the user like, feeling that the job should be more demanding and less secure. On the other hand user involvement may also be used to improvise the human-computer interface. Using this sort of an approach als o includes visibility, simplicity, consistency and flexibility. It is also one to the suitable methodology in the life cycle where its aim is to involve users in the development system; its focus is on ethics, socio technical view and human implementation; in the feasibility phase it identifies current problem, opportunity, system boundaries, existing system, key objectives and task. In the analysis phase diagnosis of efficiency, job satisfaction need and analysis, specifying and weighting efficiency is done. People-oriented methodology focuses on organizational design of new system, technical options and preparation of a detailed work design. In the implementation phase, the implementing process is planned in detail it also checks for whatever it is required to make a smooth changeover and finally in the maintenance phase the system is checked in order to make sure the objective is attained, If not the correction action is taken once again ETHICS As it is told already people-orient ed methodology mainly focuses on ethics. Ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality that is concepts such as good and bad, wrong and right, justice and virtue. On the hand it can also be defined as a moral philosophy involving systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior which is required for an organization. According to Enid Mumford (see Mumford, 1995), ethics is a methodology based on the participative approach to information systems development. Ethics is different from most of the system development methodologies. In ethics the process of change is viewed with the perspective of organizational issue and not as a technical issue. Ethical Theories Ethical theories play an important role in optimizing ordinary moral functions and to establish or defend basic moral principles. Why Ethical Theories? The need for this is that the emergence of new practices in the business and the basic principles may not be enou gh for the arising problems and may not cover the new areas that are still uncovered. Therefore it is necessary for a rational and consistent theory to evaluate the morality of actions. There are two possible approaches in order to overcome these problems, firstly there are some general rules and approaches but they may not be enough for some sort of issues. There might be some situation where the generally accepted practice or rules may be challenged. In such cases if there is some ways to decide and proceed on which, rule to follow it would be grateful. The ethical theories help an individual or an organization in choosing the right rule.

Tragedy of the Commons and Collective Action Term Paper

Tragedy of the Commons and Collective Action - Term Paper Example Acceptance of the reality of interdependency is implicit idea that all kinds or types of natural resources are for the good of everybody. This means resources are safeguarded for a common purpose of use, exploitation and preservation for replenishment and eventual use of all future generations. This idea is called the global commons of natural resources (Nonini 164). Early or primitive human societies had latched unto this idea of the commons due to their own survival instincts. Every member of the tribe is tasked to help preserve all resources not only for today's present consumption needs but for the future requirements of succeeding generations as well. Because of this concept of environmental preservation, the tribe members had banded themselves together with some social, cultural or religious arrangements to ensure that resources are safeguarded from over-exploitation, allowed to recover and replenish and to make everyone aware that no one owns these resources exclusively but ev erybody owns it. It is this idea that is known as the commons with the added sense of good stewardship. People are supposed to take only what they need from their common-pool resources. A fertile or rich environment can support a population adequately to provide a comfortable life as long as this practice is enforced. Nobody is supposed to take more than what they need, such as exploiting a resource for profit because some people had become too greedy. This had been practiced by the native Americans before the white colonizers came along. In fact, this is shown to be viable, a sense of abundance even in marginal ecological zones (ibid.). Continued population growth had put pressure on natural resources, a grim reminder of the theory put forward by Malthus centuries ago regarding... Good governance today demands consent, cooperation and commitment from people and the old ways of using coercion is no longer an acceptable alternative when imposing some form of social contract in managing common-pool resources (CPR). In fact, this was what the Nobel prize winner Elinor Ostrom advocates, using her recommended seven principles on the best ways on how to govern the commons while privatization is also considered but it has its limitations but an important point is that socio-economic models for sustainable extraction of resources can be implemented using the old ideas of liberal democracy. Global commons has been shown to be generative as well if done right, such as in music, literature, new medical technologies, hybrid seeds and in computer software where the intellectual rights are recognized and protected by copyright and patent laws.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Banks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Corporate Social Responsibility in Banks - Essay Example Corporate Social Responsibility in Banks Therefore, when a corporation engages in corporate social responsibility, it is acting in the best interest of forces which are not in a close relationship with the corporation, to the detriment of forces which are (Lantos, 2001, p. 1). This theory is based upon classical economic theory which is underscored by Milton Friedman’s analysis (Bronn&Vrioni, 2001, p 208), and this theory does not leave room for behaving ethically or responsibly (Paine, 2003, p. 1) However, in today’s socially conscious world, the traditional view is short-sighted. In this world of Occupy protests, where corporations are portrayed as soulless entities, and the extreme profit motive is seen as inherently evil, corporations now will benefit tremendously from being more socially responsible. Therefore, if corporations can show society that they are not just interested in profits, but are also interested in better the world and the environment, they will be once again more attractive to consumers. Therefore, corporate social responsibility in this environment would be advantageous to the bottom line (Innes, 2006, p. 355). This is particularly true regarding the banking industry, which is widely perceived, not inaccurately, as being the catalyst to the worldwide recession that has occurred, as their shoddy practices effectively brought down economies worldwide. Corporate responsibility may be ethical, legal, economic or philanthropic. (Mohr, 2001, p. 47). There are many reasons why corporations are compelled to act responsibly. One of the reasons why a corporation might act responsibly is its image, and, as stated above, corporate responsibility helps a corporation’s image, which, in turn, helps the corporation’s bottom line – people are more likely to patronize a corporation who is seen as being concerned about the environment and other social causes that the public holds dear (Paine, 2003, p. 110). A corporation who has socially friendly practices may b e the target of a â€Å"buycott.† Friedman (1996) advocates â€Å"buycotts,† which is the flip side of a boycott. In a boycott, companies are punished for misdeeds. On the other hand, a boycott rewards the corporation for its policies when their policies are in line with activists of a certain cause. These activists are organized and induce other shoppers to patronize the store who shares their beliefs (Friedman, 1996, p. 440). A good example of this are â€Å"Green† purchasers, who look at the ethics of a certain purchase, look at whether the purchase enhances sustainability, and decides to make the purchase based upon these factors (Young, et al., 2010, p. 20). Social investing is another way that a corporation may benefit. Social investing is where people invest their money in corporations which are in line with their personal beliefs or forward causes that the individual believes in (Entine, 2003, p. 1). Alternatively, corporations who do not act socially re sponsibility may be punished for indiscretions. For instance, a corporation who is targeted for socially unfriendly policies may find themselves the target of a boycott and other problems. When corporations do not do the right thing, then they may face boycotts, PR nightmares and fewer customers buying their products (Sassatelli, 2006, p. 218). An example of this is Bank of America. When it announced plans to charge its customers a $5 monthly debit card fee, the backlash was immediate and intense. Customers were outraged at this