Expectations for Ethics Term Paper DUE APRIL 9

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Expectations for Ethics Term PaperDUE APRIL 9

• 4-6 page paper on some aspect of what you view as
  evidence of unethical behavior in agriculture or
  in your rural community.
• If you are not from a farm or rural community you
  may chose one of the topics from Cochrane or from
  the other assigned readings, or from some other
  source.

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Paper Outline

• Illustration of some unethical behavior in
  farming, agriculture or rural life.
• Define what you mean by ethics and why you feel
  this issue, event or practice is unethical?
• Why do you define this action, issue, or event is
  unethical?

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Ethics Help Define Who We Are and Describes our
Culture

• Character is not the same thing as reputation.
  Character is what you are. Reputation is what
  people say you are.Josephson, 2002

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Expectations

• Describe an ethical issue in agriculture
• Provide a rationale for why this action/behavior
  or decision is or was unethical
• What are the consequences, how would you approach
  this decision?
• How could this have been decided or handled in a
  better way

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Outline (continued)

• What can or should be done to correct this
  problem?
• What remedies or solutions might exist?
• What are the long term implications if nothing is
  done?
• Who should take leadership in raising ethical
  standards in agriculture, farming and rural life?

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What is ethics anyway?

• Standards of conduct
• Standards that indicate how one should behave
  based upon moral duties and virtues
• Principals of right and wrong
• As a practical matter, ethics is about how we
  meet the challenge of doing the right thing when
  that will cost more than we want to pay.

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Aspects of Ethics

• Ability to discern right from wrong, good and
  evil, propriety from impropriety
• Commitment to do what is right, proper and good.
  Ethics entails action not just thoughts

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What is meant by ethics?

• Helps us discern what is right or wrong
• Doing what the law requires
• Standards of behavior
• Doing what society expects
• Standards of right and wrong that prescribe what
  people ought to do in terms of rights, benefits
  to society, fairness, etc

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• Standards of behavior that tell us how people
  ought to act in many situations in which they
  find themselves in
• Utilitarian Approach
• The Rights Approach
• Fairness or Justice
• Common Good
• Virtue

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What Iowa Farmers Told Us(2002 Farm Poll, n1942)

• At one time a persons word was as good as a
  signed contract now you must get it in writing.
  93 somewhat or strongly agreed
• In general, ethical standards in society have
  declined. 87 agreed

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What farmers told us

• I used to take a persons word as measure of
  his/her honor, but now-a-days you cant always
  simply accept what a person tells you. 85
  agreed.
• One reason ethical standards have declined is
  that people have lost respect for authority. 70
  agreed
• Often people admit they are not being ethical in
  paying the full amount of their taxes. 49
  agreed.

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What farmers told us

• Even among friends and neighbors, I am concerned
  that they no longer feel obliged to honor their
  word. 37 agreed
• Farmers ethical standards have declined. 57
  agreed

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How have ethics changed?

• Decline in past 10 years
• Clergy 24
• Neighbors 31
• Local Merchants 36
• Local Agribusiness 37
• Lenders 41
• Farmers 45
• Youth and young adults 68
• Local elected officials 70
• Elected state officials 72

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The Six Pillars of Character(Source Josephson,
Making Ethical Decisions)

• Trustworthiness
• Honesty
• Truthfulness
• Sincerity
• Candor
• Honesty in conduct
• Integrity
• Relability

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The Six Pillars of Character(Source Josephson,
Making Ethical Decisions)

• Respect
• Civility, courtesy, and decency
• Dignity and autonomy
• Tolerance and acceptance
• Responsibility
• Accountability
• Pursuit of Excellence
• Self Restraint

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The Six Pillars of Character(Source Josephson,
Making Ethical Decisions)

• Fairness
• Process
• Impartiality
• Equity
• Caring
• Citizenship

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Some guides to determine if an action is ethical

1. The Golden Rule, you act in a way that you would
   expect others to act toward you
2. The Professional Ethic, You take only those
   actions that would be viewed as proper by an
   objective panel of your professional peers

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• 3. Kants Categorical Imperative, Ask yourself,
  What if everyone behaved this way?
• 4. Child on Your Shoulder, Would you proudly
  make the same decision if your young child were
  witnessing your choice?
• 5. TV Test, Could you explain and justify your
  actions to general television audience?
• 6. The Des Moines Register Test, Would you like
  your friends and neighbors to read about this?

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Four simple questions

1. Could you or someone else suffer physical harm?
2. Could you or someone else suffer emotional pain?
3. Could the decision hurt your reputation,
   undermine your credibility, or damage important
   relationships?
4. Could the decision impede the achievement of any
   important goal?

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Seven Steps to Better Decisions

1. Stop and think
2. Clarify goals
3. Determine Facts
4. Develop options
5. Consider consequences
6. Choose
7. Monitor and modify

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What happens when there is not adherence to a
code of ethics?

• People begin to cut corners
• Most unethical and illegal activities start small
• Rationale or justifications often include,
  everyone else is doing it
• Erosion in ethics brings about greater regulation
  because trust has been violated
• Rules, regulations and laws reflect the
  formalization of ethics

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Erosion in EthicsDistrustful Culture

• Where people no longer trust each other
• Where extreme individualism is primary
• Where people no longer know each other
• With diminished respect, trust and cooperation,
  there are calls for regulations to monitor or
  regulate behaviors/actions

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Symptoms of Distrust in Agriculture

• Legal representation
• Formalized contracts
• Fear of Liabilityliability insurance
• Less personal contactfear of strangers
• Formal communication
• Suspiciousness

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What are some examples that display ethics or the
lack of ethics

• Slaveryit was legal, was it ethical
• Denying the rights of women to own property or to
  vote
• Indian removal
• Navigation Acts
• Land expropriation

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Contemporary examples

• Displacing a tenant for 5.00 acre more rent
• Calling upon the widow before her husbands
  funeral about renting her farm
• Encouraging over-application of fertilizer
  because of incentives you will receive
• Trading in a tractor that you know has major
  problems without disclosing to the dealer
• Failure to deliver on a promise

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Guides for Deciding If An Action is Ethical

• The Golden Rule
• You act in a way that you would expect others to
  act toward you or treat others as you would
  like to be treated

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Guides for Deciding If An Action is Ethical

• Professional Ethic
• You take only those actions which would be viewed
  as proper by an objective panel of your
  professional colleagues.

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Guides for Deciding If An Action is Ethical

• Kants Categorical Imperative
• Ask yourself, What if everyone behaved this
  way?

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Guides for Deciding If An Action is Ethical

• Child on Your Shoulders Test
• Would you proudly make the same decision if your
  young child were witnessing your choice?

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Guides for Deciding If An Action is Ethical

• TV Test
• Could you explain and justify your actions to a
  general television audience?

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Have Ethics Changed?

• Among farmers?
• Among people in your community?
• Among all Americans?
• Among youth and young adults?

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Examples of Unethical Behavior

• As a new employee in sales of an agribusiness
  firm you work hard to meet your quota, and
  sometimes this means that you encourage
  farmer-customers to buy more fertilizer than they
  actually need.

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• You observe a co-worker putting computer disks in
  his briefcase that you are certain he is planning
  on using to use for personal use.
• What if it were a rubber band or paper clip, or
  what about borrowing the company car for personal
  use? Should these be treated the same?

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• As purebred livestock breeder, you sell someone
  stock that you know has some genetic defects, but
  you fail to points these defects?
• Your niece who works at a bank calls you with
  some hot inside information about a proposed
  merger that could make you a handsome profit?

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• Because you have earned several frequent flyer
  miles on trips that your company paid for, you
  decide to use the discount to take a fishing trip
  instead of applying them to company business?
• You observe a fellow colleague using the company
  computer during work hours to play computer games?

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Other examples

• Building a CAFO closer to your neighbors house
  than your house
• Failure to follow recommended farming practices
  eg spreading manure on frozen ground, excessive
  tillage, over application of fertilizer, etc

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• Being aggressive in bidding up land rental rates
• Not doing business with local cooperative or with
  other local businesses
• What about layer batteries or sow cratesare they
  inhumane and unethical?

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• Is lying ever justified?
• Under what circumstances might lying being the
  ethical thing to do?

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Reasons Why People Act Unethically

• It was necessary
• It was legal
• I did it for their benefit
• I was only fighting fire with fire
• It didnt hurt anyone
• Everyone else is doing it
• I did not personally gain
• I deserved it

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All I Really Need to Know I Learned in
Kindergarten Robert Fulghum

• Share everything
• Play fair
• Dont hit people
• Put things back where you found them
• Clean up your own mess
• Dont take things that arent yours
• Say you are sorry when you hurt somebody
• Wash your hands before you eat

• Flush
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you
• Live a balanced life--learn some and think some
  and draw and paint and sing and dance and play
  and work everyday some
• Take a nap every afternoon
• When you go out into the world, watch out for
  traffic, hold hands and stick together

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All I Really Need to Know I Learned in
Kindergarten (continued)

• Beware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the
  cup the roots go down and plant goes up and
  nobody really knows how or why, but we are like
  that
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the
  little seed in the styrofoam cup-they all die. So
  do we.
• And then remember the Dick and Jane books and the
  first word you learned-- the biggest word of
  all--LOOK.