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Kitchener’s Model of Ethical Decision-Making, Essay Example

Pages: 3

Words: 856

Essay

The extent to which one adheres to his or her personal code of ethics cannot be known until it is tested by the demands of personal and professional life.  There is a difference between the idea of what is right and how that idea actually plays out in the real world. It is much simpler to have a notion of how things should be than it is to actually live by that notion.

Although a person might have an idea of what they believe is right or wrong, those notions won’t necessarily be upheld by the rest of the world.  In this way, it becomes difficult to go against other’s ideas of right or wrong, as it creates conflict.  At times, it can be simpler to agree with others and what they are doing.  How one adheres to their own ethical code in the face of adversity will determine the extent of their commitment.

Furthermore, the demands of life will not always conform to a person’s values.  It is easy for someone who is well off to say that those in poorer countries shouldn’t farm certain land, however, if those people are starving the issue becomes more difficult to alleviate. In this way, the extent of a person’s commitment is tested by the realities of the world.

While one can adhere to a certain set of standards throughout their everyday life, when it comes to business, this can be somewhat difficult.  Often, the business environment can cause a person to have to set their own person morals or ethics aside in place of those favored by their employers.  In this way, a person must decide how important their personal code of ethics is to them.  It is easy to live by a certain standard until it comes into conflict with the standards of others, especially from where a person makes their living.

Decisions made by the U.S. Government during the bank bailout controversy can be scrutinized through the use of Kitchener’s model of ethical decision-making.  The four assumptions that will be looked at include autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice or fairness. The issue is who the “client” or “beneficence” is within this very abstract transaction.  While it might seem as though the group that benefits is the American people, in reality, it seems the banks benefit, as all of the responsibility for fixing the problem is left with the Government and the cost is given to the people, while the banks are simply alleviated of their problems, without any real penalties.

The assumption of autonomy is that freedom of choice is a good thing.  While Congress was able to make a decision, the public’s opinion on the issue may have been somewhat different. If the argument is that banks are too important to let fail, then the idea of autonomy doesn’t really have any relevance.  The idea of choice is taken away when it is asserted that the banks are of vital importance.

There is no decision inherent in the argument that society cannot make it when banks fail, instead it becomes something that simply must be done. With this argument the notion of autonomy, or the ability to make a decision lies solely with the banks, who get to decide whether to follow the rules or not, and if they don’t the government and the people have no choice but to bail them out.

The beneficence in this case would seem to be the American people, as the failure of the banks would affect them deeply.  The issue with this is that the people didn’t actually get anything out of it except the expulsion of a looming threat that was created by those who, it would seem, should have been serving them. The agument could be made that the bailout of the banks promoted growth for the American people, which is a good thing, but ultimately it depends on whether the issue will simply repeat itself or not.

Non-maleficence is an important notion in this case. While the bailouts themselves could be said to adhere to this assumption, as not giving the banks a bailout might cause more harm than good, the responsibility of the banks to not cause harm should be scrutinized as well. The banks themselves may cause more harm in the future if given the opportunity to continue in the same regard.

Finally, the idea of justice or fairness must be taken into context.  The fairness of the banks getting into a crisis, despite their importance to the stability of society, is a difficult issue.  The argument that people have an obligation to maintain the stability of the banks seems to be in reverse to what should be the case.

While the responsibility of the bail-out fell upon the tax payers, it seems the justification was reasonable.  The problem, though, was that there was no sense of responsibility on the side of the banks. Although they caused the problem, they didn’t receive any penalty. The penalty instead fell upon those who paid for it.  In this sense, there was no justice in the decision, only the obligatory sense of responsibility placed on the people in relation to the stability of the banks.

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