Category: Duty

The article “Overseas property buyers face UK duty increase” written by James Pickford on the 22/11/2019 unveils the conservative party’s plan on increasing stamp duty tax to 3 percent for oversea buyers.

In recent years foreign investors have been investing heavily into real estate in the United Kingdom due to its strong and stable political climate (Rowley, 2017). Along with the shortage of new builds, high demand for property in the UK have caused the prices of houses to rise rapidly. This has prevented domestic and first-time buyers from owning their own property requiring them to rent from private landlords. Unfortunately, high prices charged by private landlords has left many people unable to afford housing leaving many people homeless (Booth 2019). In order to make housing more affordable and reduce the amount of people rough sleeping, the conservative party have proposed to increase stamp duty tax to foreign investors.

Taxes can be used to generate revenue for government spending and redistributing resources. The conservative party want to use the addition revenue generated by the stamp duty tax, estimated at £120m, to help reduce rough sleeping. The government tax goods that have a low elasticity of demand so that when the price of goods increase because of the tax, the fall in quantity of goods traded is small. A large fall in the number of houses sold will reduce potential tax revenue. (Core Econ 2017).

Taxes can be used to change the behaviour of non-domestic buyers. By increasing the tax, the cost of buying a house will increase. A fall in demand for property is typically seen when price increases. (Core Econ 2017). Foreign investors aren’t the only ones impacted by the increase in taxes, the tax incidence also falls on the seller. Lucian Cook, a researcher at estate agent Saville says seller will have to ‘soften’ the selling. This will make housing more affordable for domestic buyers. However, it will decrease the economic rent for the sellers and lower producer surplus. Despite a fall in producer surplus, if the price of housing does fall consumer surplus will increase for domestic buyers as cost of living falls. This along will the additional revenue generated through the stamp duty surcharge, will increase the overall welfare for the society (Pickford 2019).

However, what the supply and demand theory doesn’t consider is the price elasticity of demand. If the demand for property is inelastic an increase in the cost of housing brought on by the increase in stamp duty tax will cause the demand for housing to fall disproportionately less than the increase in cost. (Core Econ 2017)

An article written by James Pickford compared the cost of buying and selling homes in different countries.

The research was carried out by estate agent Savills. The chart shows costs involved in buying, holding and selling property above the price of the home. The cost of holding a property in London ranked 9th out of 12 cities in order of descending expense. Theresa May proposed to increase the stamp duty surcharge between 1 and 3 percent which Savills replied that once the tax changes have been absorbed into the market, London will not look uncompetitive in relation to international market. This suggests that there is a low elastic demand for property in London. (Pickford 2018). Despite an increase in price there was little change in demand.

The stamp duty surcharge means the top end foreign buyer could be paying as much as 18 per cent in stamp duty. Dean Clifford, a London developer says the Conservative party shouldn’t target foreign investor as it will discourage FDI. Many new city development projects are made possible by initial investments made by foreign investors say Housing policy experts. A fall in investment will lead to a fall in the supply of housing as the lack of funding leads to fewer city developments (Pickford 2019). A study looking at the housing investment and consumption in Urban China concludes an open door polices played an important role in housing investment. FDI increases housing supply by directly investing in urban housing. It also increased the demand for housing as it created job opportunities which provided its employees with a high wage. Hence this suggests FDI helps to increase the supply of housing and encourages home ownership. (Aimin et al 2014)

In conclusion the effectiveness of the stamp duty surcharge depends on the price elasticity of demand and supply of housing. If the elasticity is high, the tax will be effective in reducing the number of foreign investors and British expat buying property in the UK. A high elasticity means a change in price will cause a significantly higher percentage change in the quantity of houses sold. This however could have a negative impact on how much additional revenue the government receives. If there is a large fall in the number of foreign people buying UK property, the government may not be able to finance the project targeted at reducing rough sleeping. On the other hand, if the elasticity of demand for housing is inelastic, an increase in tax may not be effective in reducing demand from foreign buyers to the point where it encourages sellers to lower their price. (Core Econ 2017). Discouraging FDI could be counterproductive as new home buildings are primarily funded by foreigners. In the long-term lack of FDI will result in fewer housing supply and increased unemployment which will make housing even more unaffordable as population growth and demand for property outweigh the supply of new house build.

Kant’s created his own thoughts of common sense ideas with the speculations that the only thing good without qualification is “good will”. He takes a different view of “good will” his idea of good will is closely related to the idea of a rationally “good person”. The basic ideas of Kant, is that what makes a good person good is his or her will that can be determined by, set decisions based off of moral law. Kant’s idea of good will is the idea of someone committed to making decisions and choices held to be morally correct as well as taken into moral considerations to be decisive reasons for guiding one’s behavior.

He states, “The good will is good not through what it effects or accomplishes, not through its efficacy for attaining any intended end, but only through its willing, i.e., good in itself, and considered for itself, without comparison, it is to be estimated far higher than anything that could be brought about by it in favor of any inclination, or indeed, if you prefer, of the sum of all inclinations”(4:395). He believed that this value was seen as the highest since Kant says this individual values it without limitation or qualification. Kant’s Notions of good will and decisions are determined by moral demands, he refers to this as Moral Law. Humans feel this Law as a restraint on their natural desires or human nature, which is why such Laws, as applied to human beings, are duties. Kant believed that will and Moral Law can only be motivated through duty. Kant compares this motivation of duty with motives of self-interest, self-preservation, and happiness. He believes that the dutiful action for motives, shouldn’t be praiseworthy if it does not express a good will.

One thing I’ve been wondering is does Kant think human nature is separate from rational duty? I can find many issues but for the sake of this response the rational duty is doing something dutiful without praiseworthy but also without self interest, self-preservation and Happiness. I believe that Kant would say, a person can’t make total reason without any type of emotional feelings, but we can notice what should be done through a rational consensus. He also believed that acting according to duty, shows no morality since it’s not done out of duty but out of self interest. I believe this would be another reason he would say that human nature and self interest is separate from rational duty. I don’t think that he would disagree that some emotion is involved but that the persevering person can get past such emotions to do the right thing. I would say this is complete and utter well for better words nonsense.

Human nature would also be put in accordance to instinctual responses. For example, no person has ever done something and completely suppressed their thoughts, interest or intentions on a consistent basis. In other words, doing something out of good duty would be doing something consistently out of duty regardless of feelings of good or bad. Human nature states that a person usually still has some feelings of good or bad whenever they perform an action even as simple as brushing one’s teeth. For example I brush my teeth everyday but it has a purpose though I might not be happy doing it, I know it’s good for my teeth. I don’t understand how someone even as intelligent as Kant can ignore Humes’s idea of a state of nature or even the thought of human nature all together. It feels as if Kant compares man in the state of nature as a divine and rationally evolved creation and I believe this is a very flawed concept of thought.

Executive Summary

There is no law, here or abroad, that requires the police to protect the citizens they serve. The courts have wrestled with this concept for decades, and although the law predominately sides with the police, there are still differences in opinion. This issue has resurfaced following the recent criminal charging of Deputy Scot Peterson for his inaction in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre.

The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics, adopted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, states in part, that officers will safeguard lives and property and the peaceful against violence. That is the crux of their existence.

Today’s officers are required to make choices that are not only lawful, but ethical as well. When faced with an ethical problem, one which may unfold rapidly and not have a single best solution, officers must use the ethical decision-making problem-solving method of their choosing. Officers, unlike the average citizen, must adhere a principle that produces the greatest good. It’s the nature of the beast.

School Resource Officers, now more than ever, find themselves in the precarious situation of having to respond to mass shootings in their schools. Training, education, and best practices dictate action, in order to save as many lives as possible. In this instance, in Parkland, FL., that did not happen.

In order to mitigate future similar events, there must be on-going ethics training, clear and unambiguous policy, on-going response training, a clear understanding of expectations and continued research of options such as the Guardian Program.

There is neither a law mandating that the police protect the citizens they serve, during a crime, nor any constitutional duty imposed on the police to protect the citizens. The concept has been at issue in several court cases around the world. In the infamous “Yorkshire Ripper” case, Lord Keith of Kinkel found that the relationship between the police and a victim was not enough to establish a duty of care. His findings in this case formed the base of a public policy principle that gives the police protection against liability stemming from negligent prevention or detection of crimes (Walsh, 2011). Lord Keith seemed to reason that this restricted liability was necessary to maintain an effective police service. Several cases in Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, including Jane Doe v. Board of Commissioners of Police for the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto et al, Odhavi Estate v. Woodhouse, and Hill v. Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police Services Board, have been dismissive of this reasoning, favoring instead, an approach where cases could proceed in the court system based on possible tort violations (Walsh, 2011).

In the case at hand, judges in Florida have had differing opinions as well. Broward County Judge Patti Englander Henning ruled that Deputy Scot Peterson had a duty to protect the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, but that ruling was overruled the same day by Federal Court Judge Beth Bloom. Judge Bloom stated, absent a custodial relationship, there is no duty to protect. Judge Bloom added, citing the 1989 Supreme Court decision DeShaney v. Winnebago County, that the due process clause “is phrased as a limitation on the state’s power to act, not as a guarantee of certain minimal levels of safety and security” (Cassens Weiss, 2018, para. 10). The argument raised in this claim was that Deputy Peterson ordered a Code Red lockdown, which limited movement of the students within the school (Hassan, 2018; Court, 2019).

That said, police officers should, and need, to understand the moral and ethical underpinnings of their jobs. The opening statement of the International Chiefs of Police Association (1957) Law Enforcement Code of Ethics, states, in part, ”As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve the community; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation and the peaceful against violence or disorder” (para. 2). Kooken (1947) states that the public can be forgiving of blunders and errors committed during good faith efforts, but acts of omission, failure to act, or malfeasance will be dealt with severely.

Today’s courts of law, as well as the courts of public opinion, have started to take a very serious look at law enforcement, their actions, and inactions, investigating them with a fine-tooth comb. This is evidenced by the recent, unprecedented criminal charges filed in Florida against a former School Resource Officer, who chose not to enter a school when a gunman was actively killing students. Former Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Peterson has been charged with eleven counts, including negligence, child neglect and perjury (Anderson, 2019).

The perjury charge(s) are not worthy of discussion at this time, as they relate to the fact that Peterson lied, at some point during the investigation. The charges pertaining to negligence will have to be determined by the court based upon the percentage of fault assigned to Deputy Peterson for his inaction.

The child neglect charges are where the most scrutiny lies, and where the court may be required to set precedent. At the heart of the state’s case is that Deputy Peterson’s role as a School Resource Officer, he should be held to the standards of a caregiver. Florida law defines a caregiver as the parent, legal custodian, permanent guardian, adult household member, or other person responsible for a child’s welfare as defined in subsection 54 (Florida Statute § 39.01 (10), 2018). “Other person responsible for a child’s welfare” includes the child’s legal guardian or foster parent; an employee of any school, public or private child day care center, residential home, institution, facility, or agency; a law enforcement officer employed in any facility, service, or program for children that is operated or contracted by the Department of Juvenile Justice; or any other person legally responsible for the child’s welfare in a residential setting; and also includes an adult sitter or relative entrusted with a child’s care. For the purpose of departmental investigative jurisdiction, this definition does not include the following persons when they are acting in an official capacity: law enforcement officers, except as otherwise provided in this subsection; employees of municipal or county detention facilities; or employees of the Department of Corrections (Florida Statute § 39.01 (54), 2018). It would appear, as written, Deputy Peterson’s role as a School Resource Officer makes him exempt from prosecution on these charges.

There have been countless cases across the country dealing with egregious actions taken by police officers, such as excessive use of force cases, and the like, but this is the first time that a police officer has been criminally charged for his inaction during an active, mass shooting event in a school. This case carries with it the potential to change the way law enforcement handles “active threat” situations, trains their officers, and constructs policy. There are other, more far-reaching possible implications aside from just “active threat” situations, as well.

Ethical thought processes

There are several different thought processes that can be used to guide moral and ethical decision making. Some of the most prominent include Utilitarianism, Libertarianism and motive-based decision making.

Two or the most regarded disciples of utilitarianism are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Bentham said that utilitarianism, quite simply, is doing whatever maximizes pleasure and prevents pain. Bentham states that every moral argument must focus on maximizing pleasure. Mill added that the happiness of the greatest number of people should give direction on how to act (Sandel, 2009).

Libertarianism stresses the concepts of liberty, autonomy, freedom of choice and individual judgment (Sandel, 2009). While it can be argued that libertarianism has more application in political and economic realms, it can be applied to this situation in that, ethically speaking, Deputy Peterson had the freedom to choose his course of action.

When Immanuel Kant spoke of ethical decision-making, he stressed the importance of the motive. Kant believed that the motive was the most important factor, and that doing the right thing was not enough. People must do the right thing, for the right reason. Kant stated that doing the right thing based upon self-interest, was inappropriate (Sandel, 2009).

It would be difficult to argue that Deputy Peterson used any of these ethical thought processes to aid in his decision-making during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. It is more likely that his decision-making was guided solely by fear. The facts are clear that he did something. Unfortunately, that something was nothing, seemingly taking only his own personal well-being into account during the event.

The definition of an ethical problem

Ethical dilemmas can manifest in a variety of situations, but they all have common elements in place when someone is unable to identify the appropriate resolution to a given problem. First, the problem cannot be precisely described before it arises. Second, the problem unfolds at the same time as the decision-making process. Third, the problem does not lend itself to a single best solution. Finally, there are a vast number of alternatives to choose from (Van de Poel & Royakkers, 2007). Ethical problems require the decision-maker to weigh the impact of the decision based upon the interests of everyone involved and that may be impacted by the situation (Reding, et al., 2014).

There are several schools of thought regarding working one’s way through an ethical problem. Two of the most prominent methods include utilitarian and deontological thought. Utilitarianism thought is predicated on achieving the greatest good for the greatest number, after completing a risk-reward type analysis. Priority is given to the plan of action that maximizes pleasure, happiness and utility. This is considered ends-based thinking (Kidder, 1995; Sandel, 2009).

The deontological way of thinking, a rule-based methodology, is based on the concepts of duty and obligation. This reasoning states that one must consider what ought to be done, not the outcomes (Kidder, 1995).

The ethical decision-making process

Just as the definition of an ethical problem has several steps, so to, does the ethical decision-making process. The first step is that the involved person must be aware of the problem at hand. Second, they must gather as many facts relevant to the decision as possible. Third, possible solutions need to be identified. The fourth step is that the involved person must consider the stakeholders that will be affected by the alternative solutions. Finally, the person reaches a conclusion by comparing the possible solutions and weighing the outcomes. The decision-making process can be guided by personal theory, external guidance or previous experience and training (Werhane, Hartman, Archer, Englehardt, & Pritchard, 2013).

Ethical decision-making in terrorist type events

While there is no single, widely accepted definition for terrorism, the argument can certainly be made that mass shootings, particularly school shootings, are a form of terrorism. To that end, the ethical decision-making process for a police officer that finds themselves in the middle of a school shooting response, is like that experienced by someone in the counterterrorism field. Mass shootings are a low frequency and high impact event. These facts can make it difficult to take proportional action to mitigate the already unfolding event. This type of event requires quick, independent decisions to be made, often based on incomplete or imperfect information (Reding, et al., 2014).

Additionally, law enforcement officers, in these mass shooting type events, must consider and ensure the legitimacy of their intervention, and accompanying tactics. While the need to take action to stop the threat may seem obvious, the following items must be considered; what amount and quality of information is required to make the decision to act, and what are the appropriate means of intervention for the situation at hand (Reding, et al., 2014)?

Werhane, Hartman, Archer, Englehardt, and Pritchard (2013) offer that unethical decisions, such as those made in the case at hand, are typically not deliberate, but rather a result of the failure of an individual to engage in ethical reflection, prior to being placed in that position. Failure to plan, in advance of a situation often leads to mistakes, or in this situation, freezing in place.

School Resource Officers and the Safe Schools Acts of 1994

Law enforcement officers were introduced in school settings in the United States in the 1950s. In the 1970s, the term School Resource Officer, was developed, coincidentally, in Florida. School Resource Officers have typically been associated with a three-prong approach of teaching, mentoring and enforcing laws. Most officers develop relationships with their students and are role models to many. However, when asked, most School Resource Officers believe that their primary function is that of protection and enforcement (McKenna & Pollock, 2014). Given the sensitive nature of the population they serve, School Resource Officers can often find themselves facing ethical decisions and problems. For instance, with their multitude of roles, what is the best course of action to take when an infraction is committed? Should they assume the role of teacher, mentor or enforcer? The answer can typically be found after an assessment of the following question; what would be the most defensible, best justified response given the circumstances (McKenna & Pollock, 2014)? School settings, unlike general society, may provide obstacles when making ethical decisions, given the possibility of zero-tolerance policies that can be present.

As the number of School Resource Officers grew rapidly in the 1990s, in part, as a result of the Columbine High School murders, the Safe Schools Act of 1994 was passed. The Safe Schools Act was created in order to provide funding and resources to school districts in accordance with goal six of the National Education Goals. Goal six called for every school to be free of drugs and violence by the year 2000. In addition, the Safe Schools Act mandated planning for long-term strategies to combat and prevent school violence by partnering together schools, law enforcement, health, social services and other appropriate organizations (Safe Schools Act of 1994, 1994). While admirable, the goal has yet to come to fruition, as evidenced by the spate of shootings over the past two decades, as well as the continued instances of victimization occurring within our schools.

Incidents such as Columbine and Sandy Hook have strengthened the case for the presence of School Resource Officers in all schools as it would stand to reason that having a first responder already on-scene during a mass shooting could dramatically decrease the offenders ability to inflict harm, assuming the School Resource Officer takes action. After all, that is the job of the School Resource Officer, the police in general, as well as the overriding expectation of the public at large. This exact sentiment is conveyed in by the United States Department of Homeland Security (2008) in their booklet, Active Shooter: How to Respond. The booklet states, “Law enforcement’s purpose is to stop the active shooter as soon as possible. Officers will proceed directly to the area in which the last shots were heard.”

The Parkland scenario

On February 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and engaged in a violent rampage that left 17 people dead. During the mass shooting event, Deputy Peterson, the School Resource Officer assigned to the school, failed to enter and confront the shooter. Deputy Peterson had been in law enforcement for 32 years, serving 28 of those years in a School Resource Officer capacity. At approximately 2:21 p.m., Cruz began his assault on the students and faculty. At approximately 2:23 p.m., Deputy Peterson located a spot in which to hide, where he remained for approximately 48 minutes during the assault (Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 2019). Deputy Peterson was not wearing his department issued ballistic vest during the incident, nor did he have access to a patrol rifle. In the aftermath of the mass shooting Deputy Peterson was the subject of several interviews, with both law enforcement and the media. Most of his accounts of the incident included several discrepancies and were contradicted by video and witness accounts. At the conclusion of the investigation, Deputy Peterson was found to have been derelict in his duty as an officer by not acting in accordance with his training and willfully deciding not to intervene in the mass shooting (Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 2019). Deputy Peterson had been trained in “active threat” response, in 2007, 2012 and 2016. The Broward County Sheriff’s Department policy regarding “active threat” responses was ambiguous, stating that Deputies, particularly during solo responses “may” enter the scene of the shooting in order to stop the shooter and save lives (Nehamas, 2018). Adding to the mass confusion and chaos typically associated with this type of event was the inability, or unwillingness, of several supervisors to make critical decisions.

Training for active shooter incidents has taken off since the fateful day at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Prior to that event, training dictated that the first responding officers would contain the scene and wait for the SWAT team to show up. Current procedures, which seem to have mitigate the threat in several instances, call for the first responders to act, with the goal of stopping the shooter as quickly as possible. Studies show that most of these incidents are over within mere minutes, with the shooter either taking his own life or being stopped during contact with the initial responding officers (Blair & Schweit, 2014; Fletcher, 2016).

Courses of action

The most obvious course of action is on-going ethics training. If the employee has a sufficient ethical background at the time of hire, on-going discussion and training is crucial. Jones and Owens (1995) suggest the concept of management though values and an accompanying three tiered approached to ethics training. A management through values approach emphasizes the institutionalization of the core values and ethics of an entity, from top to bottom. Ethical issues, and the expected accompanying behaviors are discussed in detail in order to eliminate any questions. The three-tiered approach to ethics training, which has been instituted by the Huntsville, AL Police Department, involves training at the recruit, in-service and supervisory levels. This training model presents on-going opportunities to discuss and elicit solutions to ethical problems that may arise.

The construction of clear, concise and unambiguous written policy is also a must. In tense situations, officers are already forced to act upon imperfect information. They should not and cannot be tasked with deciphering ambiguous directives. Additionally, the officers need to be aware of what the policies direct them to do, and think about how they will respond before ever being placed in the precarious situation they find themselves in. If a situation is predictable, it is preventable.

On-going training is very valuable to success. In this incident, training had been completed, but it did not lead to the desired end. Specific training, individual discussion and introspection are important. Perhaps that combination would have led to the realization that Deputy Peterson was not ready, willing and able to fulfill his duties at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Of particular importance, when speaking about the role of a School Resource Officer, are regular meetings with school administrators. These meetings can serve as an opportunity to develop shared understandings of ethical dilemmas, and what type of intervention is expected in a certain circumstance (McKenna & Pollock, 2014).

The institution of a Guardian Program is yet another potential solution. These programs are specific to the prevention of school violence, most notably, mass shootings. The Guardian Program allows teachers and staff, after passing a rigorous training program, to carry concealed firearms for self-protection and the protection of fellow staff members and students.

Lastly, and clearly, least favorable to the officers themselves, are the continued options of departmentally imposed discipline, and civil litigation. The police have the responsibility to monitor their own actions, and administer discipline, up to and including termination, where applicable. A department that does not police themselves, cannot effectively police the community. Regarding civil litigation, Jones and Owens (1995) have found that it does not appear to be a vehicle for structural changes in policing, however, it can still be an effective way to control the actions and decisions of the individual.

Ask most officers across the country, and the answer to the question of what should have been done in the Parkland scenario is obvious. Enter the school, confront the shooter, and do everything possible to stop the killing. The strategies that have been used, and should be continued for instances such as this, appear to be clear; train for likelihood of the event, have a personal plan in place for a response, make policy crystal clear and have competent officers and supervisors in place to take actions.

The Parkland incident was horrible, which goes without saying. The actions (or inactions) of Deputy Peterson have put the spotlight on law enforcement response and ethics. Although his decision-making was likely not deliberately unethical, he clearly failed to do the right thing for, either the greater good or in concert with his duty and obligation. The decision to do nothing was a personal one for Deputy Peterson, but what remains to be seen is was it solely an unethical decision to not act, or was it also criminal?

References

1. Anderson, C. (2019, June 5). Legal experts question ex-deputy’s arrest over Parkland tragedy. Retrieved from https://www.policeone.com/school-violence/articles/484036006-Legal-experts-question-ex-deputys-arrest-over-Parkland-tragedy/
2. Blair, J. P., & Schweit, K. W. (2014). A study of active shooter incidents, 2000-2013. Texas State University and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.
3. Cassens Weiss, D. (2018, December 12). Judge rules school, sheriff’s office had ‘no legal duty’ to protect students in mass shooting. Retrieved from http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/parkland-school-and-sheriffs-office-didnt-have-a-duty-to-protect-students-in-mass-shooting-judge-rules
4. Court finds Broward officials had no constitutional duty to protect students. (2019). Education Week, 38(18), p. 4.
5. Fletcher, T. (2018, February 22). Why solo-officer active shooter response should be trained. Retrieved from https://www.policeone.com/police-products/firearms/training/articles/192578006-Why-solo-officer-active-shooter-response-should-be-trained/
6. Florida Department of Law Enforcement. (2019). Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission Initial Report. Retrieved from http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MSDHS/CommissionReport.pdf
7. Florida Statute § 39.01 (10). (2018). Proceedings relating to children.
8. Florida Statute § 39.01 (54). (2018). Proceedings relating to children.
9. Hassan, A. (2018, December 19). Officers don’t have duty to help, U.S. judge rules. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/us/parkland-shooting-lawsuit-ruling-police.html
10. International Association of Chiefs of Police. (1957, October). Law enforcement code of ethics. Retrieved from https://www.theiacp.org/resources/law-enforcement-code-of-ethics
11. Jones, T., & Owens, C. (1995). Police ethics training: A three-tiered approach. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 64(6), 22.
12. Kidder, R. M. (1995). How good people make tough choices: Resolving the dilemmas of ethical living. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
13. Kooken, D. L. (1947). Ethics in police service. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 38(1), 61-74. Retrieved from https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3456&context=jclc
14. McKenna, J., & Pollock, J. (2014). Law enforcement officers in schools: An analysis of ethical issues. Criminal Justice Ethics, 33(3), 163-184.
15. Nehamas, N. (2018, December 23). Ten months after Parkland, Broward Sheriff’s Office plans to change active shooter policy. Miami Herald. Retrieved from https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article223496650.html
16. Reding, A., Van Gorp, A., Cox, K., Walczak, A., Giacomantonio, C., & Hoorens, S. (2014). Handling ethical problems in counterterrorism: An inventory of methods to support ethical decisionmaking. RAND Europe. Retrieved from https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR251.html
17. Safe Schools Act of 1994. (1994). H.R. 2455, 103rd Cong.
18. Sandel, M. J. (2009). Justice: What’s the right thing to do? New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
19. United States Department of Homeland Security. (2008). Active shooter: How to respond. Washington, DC. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/active_shooter_booklet.pdf
20. Van de Poel, I., & Royakkers, L. (2007). The ethical cycle. Journal of Business Ethics, 71(1), 1-13.
21. Walsh, D. (2011). Police liabilty for a negligent failure to prevent crime: Enhancing accountability by clearing the public policy fog. King’s Law Journal, 22(1), 27-55.
22. Werhane, P. H., Hartman, L. P., Archer, C., Englehardt, E. E., & Pritchard, M. S. (2013). Obstacles to ethical decision-making: Mental models, Milgram and the problem of obedience. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Introduction

Survival is a tactic we try to put up with each day despite the circumstances that pin us far from it. However, instances arise where living causes more burdens than we anticipate (Cholbi, 2010). John Hardwig points out that in such a case, then a person’s duty to die prevails.

Hardwig’s Central argument

In his theory, Hardwig believes that humans have to die. For instance, in cases of extreme illnesses, people ought to make choices that favour the loved ones (Hardwig, 2014). Despite objections from bioethics and religious ethics, the condition still stands out as a possible option. He comprehensively outlines circumstances under which individuals have to die. Firstly, a commitment to end one’s life prevails when continual to live causes more burdens, whether emotionally, financially, or destructing life plans (Hardwig, 2014). Fairness is a virtue when faced with such a case. There is a need to consider the long term effect our burden will have on our loved ones rather than being selfish.

Secondly, duties to die exist when the lives of our loved ones have impoverished for a long time, especially when it is not their fault. In some cases, caregiving becomes complicated to our supporters, especially when they alternate with other demands like jobs and family (Hardwig, 2014). It becomes expensive for them to serve all sides, thus, leading to loss and extreme problems (Cholbi, 2010). Moreover, a duty to die is significant where your loved ones have made tremendous contributions for one’s sake, but you have made no similar sacrifice for their well-being.

Additionally, when people live lavish lifestyles instead of saving for illness or old age and later depend on family for sustenance then, they must die. According to reports from research, middle-level Americans spend more and save less (Hardwig, 2014). It is ultimately wrong to depend on your family’s assistance after living a careless spendthrift life.

However, Hardwig argues that in some cases, there is no duty to die, especially when one is incompetent. Ideally, such a decision is arrived at by the victim wherein the occurrence of incompetence; the person does not recognize such a duty (Hardwig, 2014). Likewise, when people can still contribute significantly to a family, then a possibility to die is rare.

Conclusion

I agree with Hardwig’s idea that a duty to die prevails. It is necessary to ensure fairness in the choices we make, especially how they impact those close to us. In cases of chronic illnesses that require extreme financial support which is unaffordable, then such a measure should be considered.

References

1. Cholbi, M. (2010). The duty to die and the burdensomeness of living. Bioethics, 24(8), 412-420.
2. Hardwig, J. (Ed.). (2014). Is there a duty to die?: And other essays in bioethics. Routledge.

Introduction

Being a part of the European Union, it’s easy to forget that we may be subjects to customs duty. Free trade zones allowed us to lose the concern about any additional cost of importing from the EU, but unfortunately not anymore. Now, as Great Britain exits the agreement, the state of the matter is very uncertain. In this essay we will try our best to provide answers to mind-boggling questions concerning the futures of trade of both remaining countries, and the United Kingdom itself.

Importance of Customs

First, to get the gist of the problem, let’s focus on what customs duty precisely is. Customs duty is a tax charge on imported (and sometimes also exported) goods introduced by authorities in order to increase revenue and protect state industries from competition from across the border. There are various criteria on which the value of duty is based, the main two are: weight and dimensions.

Although it may seem like a new concept, in fact first written evidence of customs tarriff is traced back to 167 A.D. to a city called Palmyra (today’s Syria). Back then, fees were given voluntarily by merchants in exchange for considerate treatment, but over time they became mandatory contribution to kingdoms’ revenue. The idea of customs flourished in the time of Industrial Revolution, when international trade was seen as key source of wealth, thus implementing certain policies to regulate it was necessary.

Efficiency in Trade

It’s a case of common sense to say that it’s efficient to trade if the offer from a foreign supplier surpasses the domestic one. The rule of efficiency states that one should specialize in production of goods that can be manufactured most efficiently. Under circumstances of introducing customs duties, in order to maintain the levels of current GDP, governments of GB and EU will be compelled to intervene and reduce imbalances by the use of economic policies that compensate the flaws of the system. In such case it’s believed that Law of Demand and Supply is not sufficient to assure stabilization of the economy, therefore various fiscal and monetary policies are bound to be introduced by the government instruments.

Current UK-EU Situation

Great Britain is scheduled to formally leave the European Union on 31 March 2019. This transition will have a drastic impact not only on the UK but it will affect all European countries in numerous ways. Governments on both sides will have to mind the good of the people and arrange settlements to minimize the risk of any possible inconveniences. Unfortunately, this is not an easy job since the “Judgement Date” is very close up, and the conversation can only last so long.

But before we get into what is coming after Brexit, let’s talk about how different trade regulating agreements work within the EU, and how customs duties are currently executed.

European Customs Union

The European Customs Union is an important organization which operates in all EU countries. It provides a uniform method of controlling all imports, exports, and transits of goods by implementing a set of rules also known as Union Customs Code.

Nowadays, these rules state that there are no customs duties on imports from outside the EU and at the borders between the EU countries. Duty has to be charged only when goods first enter the EU but later on they can move freely within its territory. Due to eliminated customs delays smooth flow of goods is ensured. This agreement gives businesses that depend on imported components huge advantage when it comes to fast production – for example, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies originated in the UK AstraZeneca plc hugely relies on international trade; industry statistics show that it exports around 45 million medical packs to EU countries every month, while 37 million are exported to Britain from the EU. In the future, possible transit delays may cause huge revenue cuts or even put the firm out of the picture.

More generally, according to data presented in Figure 1 from, in 2017 the EU countries added up for 53% of UK imports and 44% exports, which only proves the scale of mutual dependence on both ends.

“Statistics on UK-EU trade” by By Matthew Ward, House of Commons Library

Trade Facilitation in the European Union

Trade facilitation is another important tool that helps governments enhance the speed and efficiency of border procedures, as they can become quite complex and costly for certain business. Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) was initiated by World Trade Organization (WTO) and came into force on 22 February 2017. The act is one of the key measures that enable easy movement, clearance, and release of goods, it also allows for effective collaboration between countries’ authorities all around the world.

The aim of trade facilitation is to reduce both variable and fixed costs of trade and, therefore, accelerate and increase output gains. In 2015 WTO presented a report on world trade, which, among other things, included the information on implementing TFA could speed it up. The report compared the effect of trade facilitation to an iceberg, which melts as it swims across the ocean just like the value of goods decreases as importers and exporters face trade costs. The inefficiency of trade is reduced to zero under implementation of TFO. It is certain that trade facilitation increases the welfare on both sides of the spectrum, importers benefit from lower prices and exporters may receive higher revenues for traded goods. The report also provides and estimate that the complete implementation of Trade Facilitation Agreement is able to reduce trade costs by average 14.3%, import time by 47% (over a day and a half), and export time by 91% (almost two days).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. WORLD TRADE REPORT 2015: Speeding up trade: benefits and challenges of implementing the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/world_trade_report15_e.pdf

Kants account of Perfect and imperfect duty is recognised and accepted all over the world. If we try to understand perfect and imperfect duty from a layman’s point of view it would go as follows : Perfect duty consists of duties which have a binding nature for example the duty to not to murder someone falls under perfect duty as it applies strict injunction which restricts us to do the act. Now to get a clear picture of imperfect duties we need to understand that imperfect duty runs in contrast with perfect duties, these duties do bind us but in a much looser way. Here in this assignment we will profoundly analyse Immanuel Kant’s imperfect duties in order to understand what these duty means and to study how these duties are applied in our day to day life.

To further understand the concept of imperfect and perfect duties we need to have deep knowledge about these duties and also we need to understand the difference between them so we will be discussing these concepts of duties. We will begin by Kant’s own remark on perfect and imperfect duties- “ some actions are of such a nature that their maxim cannot even be thought as a universal law without contradiction, far from it being possible that one could will that it should be such. In others this internal impossibility is not found, though it is still impossible to will that their maxim should be raised to the universality of a law of nature , because such a will would contradict itself. We easily see that the former maxim conflicts with the stricter or narrower duty, the latter with broader duty”. Kant has always been of the view that when the duty is broader the obligation towards the duty becomes imperfect and when the duty is narrower the obligation towards it becomes more rigid. Kant in his metaphysics of morals gave a lot of distinction between these duties in order to under this concept in a profound way. We will discuss these distinction to understand the concept of duties in a profound manner. The concept of broader the duty lesser the obligation can be understood by a lot of examples that take place in our daily lives, for example the choice of choosing a particular field in education for example choosing law involves a low level of obligatoriness as other options are also available for a student beside law. In this case no specified action is required.

In the case of Perfect duties the level of obligations becomes more perfect with the duties getting stricter. For example the duty to not to kill someone creates almost perfect obligation on an individual to not to kill anyone even by an act of mistake. The distinction between perfect and imperfect can be characterized as follows : The perfect duties are those duties which arise from our free rational beings, it does not hold any regard for desires or passion, whereas imperfect duties are those which rely on desires or passions. Thus we can say that perfect duty can be defined without referring to the deviation involved with the individuals subjective choices, but imperfect duty cannot be defined without such reference. Thus we can say that the application of the perfect duty is less than the imperfect duty. If a certain actions being a duty does not specify whether it involves the particular subjective of a free rational being then that duty cannot be distinguished from a perfect duty. Having said that perfect duty is restricted to very few conditions as compared to imperfect duty, does not mean that perfect duty does not have any conditions at all.

Understanding Imperfect duties

Philosophers have always contended about imperfect duties and how these duties are easy to point but pretty hard to define. Imperfect duties are those which carry beneficence, charity mercy and gratitude. Generally the duty of charity requires us to give something to the people who are in need and it does not require us to give everything that we have and as much as we can. Similarly such beneficence is not needed to towards a particular person or organization. In short the imperfect duties allow us discretion unlike perfect duties which does not allow the same amount of latitude in its application. Though there has been a general understanding regarding imperfect duties but philosophers have had a very little agreement regarding what imperfect duties are. The philosopher have agreed only to one topic regarding imperfect duties and that is beneficence. The idea behind imperfect duty is that there are certain actions which we ought to do but we do not need to do it as much as possible, also the role of discretion plays a vital role in imperfect duties as the individual has discretion over his choice to support someone he wants to. The problem with this concept is that it does not create clarity as to what the duty is. If we want to consider imperfect duties truly as duties we need to understand that it should identify what is required and what an agent can do. To Understand this concept let us take an example of rescue and aid- imagine that one person is walking past a pond which is a shallow one and sees a child drowning, here you can save the child with ease but your clothes would be become drenched in doing so. This is the case of rescue and now contrast to this we will see the case of aid- imagine a person helping an organisation which takes care of poor people and feeds them, the person gives a check of rupees ten thousand to the organisation and by doing that he is helping maximum number of poor people who live in the organisation. To this the philosophical thinker singer says that “there is no moral distinction between cases of aid and rescue and that our duty in aid is just as strong as our duty in rescue”. Other proponents of imperfect duties are of the view that the cases of rescue are more demanding as compared to the cases of aid. Basically it means that we are morally required to save the drowning child but we are bound to pay extra money from our earning to the organisation which takes care of the old aged people. This example leaves an issue for debate as to whether the duty of rescue should be categorized as perfect or imperfect? From the knowledge of duties I feel like the duty of rescue falls under perfect duty and that of aid falls under imperfect duty, even though both come under the act of beneficence, also the duty in rescue is perfect because it does not allow any kind of latitude and thus it should fall under the category of perfect duty.

Different approach to imperfect duties

In earlier days imperfect duties were thought as imperfect rights and the word ‘rights’ made more sense as compared to duties because rights include authorization to use force in order to make sure these rights are respected. But Hugo Grotius was of the view that “to have an imperfect right, on the other hand is to be genuinely owed something but not to have license to use force to get it”. In this sense an imperfect right is incomplete as it does not have all the aspects of right that a person would want in a right. Through this we come to the idea of non compulsion views which simply says that you can do your duty but you cannot claim a right towards it. Thus the duty does not have a correlative right.

The second approach tries to deal with the aspect of latitude in imperfect duty. It says that imperfect duties have unspecified conditions for their fulfilment. To understand this we take an example of a person who has duty to charity but the duty does not specify how much to give, or who will be on the receiving end of the charity. The problem that arises over here is that the duty over here is unspecified and this simply means that if there is nothing that you should do, then there is no duty at all.

The third approach talks about general maxim which has been given by Kant.

For Kant Paradigmatic imperfect duty has been the duty of beneficence. It is possible to think of a world in which a maxim of indifference would become a universal law, Kant argues that as a rational agents we cannot consistently will that such a maxim become a universal law.

Kant has always been of the view that perfect duties are more important than imperfect duties and thus they should be given priority over imperfect duties. But Kant believed that it is important to recognise imperfect duties because, if we will not recognise them firstly the morality would become excessively demanding which would be unbearable for human beings and secondly the act of beneficence is unending no matter how much we do it. Thus it is almost next to impossible to see yourself released from the duties by doing sufficient amount of beneficent acts.

If we study profoundly we will see that priority of perfect over imperfect duties seems to parallel against common moral intuitions, for example it will be bizzare to think that one should not save other persons from a house which is under fire because doing so would require transgressions into someone else’s property. This act would come under the duty of rescue but still Kant was not able to derive this duty from his contradiction in the will test. Our duty to help is an imperfect one as it comes with a latitude for choice which seems to be out of place in emergency situations, when another person’s life is at stake. Kant seems to have ignored these duties or he simply amalgamated them with the duty of beneficence as whole.

Kant never distinguished the duty of beneficence from general as most of the cases which does not include latitude with imperfect duties are either duties of rescue or aid. Kant in his doctrine of right holds a view which says that the concept of right does not signify the relation of one’s choice to the mere wish of the other, as in actions of beneficence or callousness. As it has been mentioned earlier that Kant was not able to describe the steadfast requirement to help others in situations of emergency for him emergency situations and the duty of beneficence is same. To me it seems that in a lot of situations the imperfect duties overlaps the perfect duties and in all the cases the strictness of such duties tell us about the nature of the duty.

A Kantian Approach to Corporate Philanthropy

Application of Kantian ethics in the corporate world is not something new or uncommon. The doctrine of respect for persons is a Kantian approach which can be included in the business practices. This approach tells the managers to treat all the stakeholders as ends themselves and never as means to an end. Most of the ethics which is based on kant’s perception hangs on to the notion of the corporations holding the same kind of moral agency as persons. But the problem with this approach is that even after having personhood under the umbrella of law Kants moral agency talks about rational autonomy and only humans can be limited by moral laws and not firms. This means the persons related with the business are morally bound to act and not the firms. Applying this approach to a corporation is useful as it will reflect moral responsibilities which will be shared by people who work in corporations. If this is followed then we will be able to say corporation has moral duties and are moral agents.

CORPORATE PHILANTHROPHY AND APPLICATION OF KANT’S APPROACH TOWARDS IT

As Kant explains that if a ”person in prosperity sees a fellow rational human being suffering from great wickedness by great wickedness he meant (disease, natural disaster, poverty) and refuses to help even after seeing his condition then a person cannot consistently will such a universal law”. We all know the dire situation of the world right now and how millions of people have been badly effected by this pandemic. In India itself millions of people have lost their livelihood and how the act of benevolence matters the most at this dark phase. It can be said over here that Kantian corporate philanthropy would impose duties on the corporate to reduce the suffering around the world and help people around the world so that their needs are fulfilled not just in pandemic but in normal circumstances as well. In the past few decades government funding towards non profit organisation has decreased and the non profit organisations have been finding it very difficult to survive on their own and as a result of this millions of people are bereft of food, shelter and basic needs.

This situation in itself creates obligation upon the corporations to act in beneficence towards these non profit organisations to reduce the sufferings.

To solve this problem we need to understand that

1. The imperfect duties do not lead to moral laxity.
2. Imperfect duties can demand for strict actions even after having a lot of latitude.

Moral laxity means that imperfect duties reduces morals and as a consequence of it people do not take their obligations. Because imperfect duties allows a lot of latitude people will always find an excuse to not to help others even after knowing that they are required to do so morally.

We need to understand that duty of beneficence does give us latitude but this does not mean that can overlook our stricter duties. Even though imperfect duties allow greater flexibility than perfect duties but we should not forget that they are still duties at the end and the act of beneficence is not just a good act but a duty which is to be followed strictly. Even though imperfect duties do not have strict obligations but in extreme circumstances it might not leave us with any kind of latitude. For example if a child is stuck inside a burning car, the father of the child would take an immediate/strict action to save the child thus leaving the father with no choice of latitude. In the same way I would say that many non profit organisations which have lack of financial resources should be helped by corporations and this can be done through in-kind contributions, establishing partnerships with such organisations, encouraging employees to volunteer etc. This is how the Corporations and businesses will be obligated to help such organisations even after having a lot of latitude. From the above examples and suggestions it is clear that how circumstances controls the duties and how serving people is our moral obligation and not an excuse.

It has clear that how even corporates and businesses have moral duties towards the people in general and how Immanuel Kants imperfect duties is applicable over here. The corporates mostly evade such duties by giving reference to the aspect of latitude when it comes to beneficence. For Kant fulfilment of imperfect duties is called as merit, but having failed to commit to such duties shows the lack of moral strength. Corporates must be philanthropic because they have an obligation towards the society in general and they can fill in the obligations through the act of beneficence which incorporates strict obligations within it. As Kant says one must “strive with all one’s might that the thought of duty for its own sake is the sufficient incentive of every action confirming to duty”.

CONCLUSION

Kant’s idea of duties not only tells us what the duties are, it also tells us what is the reason behind duties and why it is so important to act on the basis of such duties. The distinction between perfect and imperfect duties tells us what do these duties stand for, Kant’s idea of duties not only tells us how to behave and act in certain circumstances but it also enables us to think about our obligation towards the people in general. In his famous work ‘Groundwork for Metaphysics of Morals’ he has given a new perception to moral obligations and thus he had given an outlook which is still widely accepted. For Kant imperfect duties have always been prescription for general ends which are morally important, meritorious and the act of beneficence should adopt to the ends of others as one’s own. Kant has always been of the view that moral philosophy was never a study of actions which are steadfast or concrete but rather it deals with the way by which someone can be obligated. Imperfect duties play an essential role in our day to day lives and binds us to perform moral duties which are important not only for us but also for the society. What we learn from this analysis is that though imperfect duty has latitude and offers laxity to the one who is doing beneficence but in various circumstances imperfect duties might have a narrow approach and offer no room for laxity or latitude. Thus even though imperfect duties cannot be imposed but still we need to oblige to these duties for the benefit of society. This application can also be used among the corporations to solve the problem of people who are in desperate need and this can only be achieved through strict application of Kant’s imperfect duties.

General Douglas MacArthur was an American general who commanded the Southwest Pacific in World War II, oversaw the successful Allied occupation of postwar Japan, and led the United Nations forces in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. This man had once said: “‘Duty, Honor, Country’ – those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn”. I believe that these very words help us build and shape our basic characters. They help us mold our futures and the roles we play. These words also make us strong enough to know when we are weak and brave enough to face ourselves when we are afraid. They act as an encouragement to never give up on our duties, honor, and country.

So, what exactly are duty, honor, and country? They are things we can’t neglect. Duty, honor, and country have an inter lockable relationship that applies to our life. Duty is the sum total of all laws and rules that make up your organizational, civic, and moral obligations. This is important because duty implies that we are part of a bigger picture, but we aren’t the ‘whole picture’. We are just a small piece of the bigger picture. Even though we are just a small piece, we are nonetheless important. When we start to realize and recognize our duties in life, we also start to understand our place in life and the roles we play. We also begin to serve a bigger purpose other than ourselves. This means that we aren’t the only ones that matter in society and around the world. When we are in the mindset that something needs to be fulfilled, we do what needs to be done because it is our obligation to complete it and that’s all that matters. We aren’t looking for recognition or rewards because there is a silent honor in doing our duty. For example, as students, we must carry out the requirements of our jobs, which includes obtaining a high level of education and preparing for hardships to step towards our future goals and careers. We are the next generation and we must build paths for the generation that follows.

Honor represents the set of all values that make up the public code of any organization. It is synonymous with glory, respect, and distinction. This is a priceless reward given after one has accomplished something successfully. No one was ever honored for what they have received, but for what they have given. Honor is a highly regarded word and people who have it are considered of high values and moral worth. This is an important attribute because when one has honor, they are able to distinguish between right and wrong. They conform according to their conscience and will have an excellent character that is looked upon by others. In order to exhibit the value of honor in my life, I have to adhere to and identify with a public code of professional values, show good moral judgment, and employ honor as my motive for action.

And finally, a country is a nation with its own government, occupying a particular territory. It is a place that provided me with a warm home and family. It is where I spent my whole life. Thus, as a citizen, it is important to serve the country in times of need because we should always give back in return for what we receive and protect the place we live and where our family is. There’s a saying that goes like this: “Having somewhere to go is home. Having someone to love is family. Having both is a blessing”. All of this is possible due to what our governments provide us. Therefore, it’s important to stay loyal to the place you’ve known for your whole life and protect it. I believe that even if we are kind and gentle, we will become the most powerful and relentless creatures when it comes to protecting our family, friends, and country. Therefore, as a citizen, one of my obligations is to serve the country in times of need, even if it means I would have to sacrifice my life to save the ones I love.

Introduction

In my discussion board three, I talked about the approach I chose as my metaethics. Discussion board four was an attempt to solve an issue with a family member with a gambling problem using applied ethics. In this paper I will be going more in depth about duty ethics and family ordeals. I will attempt to answer the question of, is it moral to use duty ethics to deal with family issues? With that being said, I will briefly explain just what duty ethics is to begin this paper. The basis of my paper is using a theory by Immanuel Kant. Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who lived during the late 18th Century. Kant saw duty as the central principle of ethics and developed a system based on it. This system was called Duty Ethics, Kantian Ethics, or Deontological Ethics. [1: Jones. “Moral Reasoning,”83]

Duty Ethics

Deontological ethics roughly means Duty. What is Deontology? It is the study of rule or duty-based ethics. For example, a manager at a job has deontic authority to assign tasks or duties that an employee is obliged to accept and must obey. Regardless of the appropriateness of the task assigned, the employee has the duty to obey, if they want to keep their job. Hopefully a manager wouldn’t assign tasks that are morally wrong and expect someone to obey them, if it goes against their moral beliefs. Based on the reading in chapter seven in “Moral Reasoning”, it is easy to see that Kant had some assumptions. One of those assumptions was that only human beings are capable of rationality. The second assumption is that as a rational being, we should be acting in accordance with one’s moral duty rather than one’s desires. He believed that it is imperative to protect that rationality and that ability to be rational in all human beings. Furthermore, Kant believed that we have two ethical imperatives that should guide our actions. One was the question of what is best for everyone equally? The second question was what will sustain the needs of each human being equally? We all have moral obligations that should motivate our behavior. Some choices may seem like they are wrong but will result in some type of benefit. As a result, those choices fail to show our duty to do what’s right. Following the rules is more important than the outcome. The consequences of an action don’t justify the means of which is taken to achieve it. Duty ethics involves someone’s morals and thinking about what the outcome of aa decision might be.

Our happiness or satisfaction can’t determine the morality of our decisions. Duty is a moral or legal obligation. You could also say that a duty is something that you are required to do. Regardless of what morals you possess, you have a duty to someone or something. At any given time, someone is counting on you to do the right thing. Sometimes it may not be so obvious that someone is counting on you, and we have to kind of read between the lines to figure it out. Kant’s Deontological Ethics is talking about the moral rightness of an action itself. For example, you are in a class with a friend who is in danger of failing the class. He really needs to pass this class to graduate. He hasn’t prepared for the final exam properly and has asked if I would help him cheat. Failing the class would not be good for his future. You feel you have a duty to help your friend but know that if you are caught that you will have negative consequences also. However, based on Kant’s theory the act of cheating is wrong. Therefore, in every circumstance the act is wrong, even if the consequence may bring about good for someone involved.

Another part of Kant’s theory was what he called a categorical imperative. Whether or not we ought to do something isn’t a moral choice, but just contingent of our desires. He viewed morality through these categorical imperatives. Kant believed that the fundamental principle of our moral duties is a categorical imperative. Categorical imperatives are commands you must follow, regardless of your desires. “It is called an “imperative” because it tells us what we must do in order to act morally. In other words, it tells us what our moral duty is. It is “categorical” in the sense that it is not hypothetical (or conditional)” Our moral obligations are derived from pure reason. “Kant’s analysis of commonsense ideas begins with the thought that the only thing good without qualification is a good will.” The idea of a good will is that a person will only make decisions that he or she considers as morally right. “In Kant’s terms, a good will is a will whose decisions are wholly determined by moral demands or, as he often refers to this, by the Moral Law.” Some may feel that this moral law is a hindrance of their desires that are naturally apart of their DNA. Our human will should be motivated by the thought of duty. “Duties are rules or laws of some sort combined with some sort of felt constraint or incentive on our choices, whether from external coercion by others or from our own powers of reason.” In summary, Duty Ethics is talking about doing what’s right because it’s the right thing do and not based on the consequences of the choice decide to make. [2: Jones. “Moral Reasoning,”86.] [3: Jones. “Moral Reasoning,”87.] [4: Johnson and Cureton, ‘Kant’s Moral Philosophy,’2.] [5: Johnson and Cureton, ‘Kant’s Moral Philosophy,’2.] [6: Johnson and Cureton, ‘Kant’s Moral Philosophy,’3.]

Family Issues

In discussion board three we talked about our own specific approach to metaethics. I chose Duty Ethics as my metaethics approach. Just to reiterate, Duty Ethics is talking about doing what’s right because it’s the right thing do and not based on the consequences of the choice you decide to make. In discussion board four, we chose an issue to apply our metaethics approach to. The issue that I chose to apply my metaethics to was family issues. As I mentioned in that thread, dealing with family issues, sometimes can be difficult regardless of the type of approach. And especially difficult to exercise this approach to ethics. With family members, whether immediate or extended, you must be careful or you risk breaking that bond that you should have with them. Many of my issues with family members, is unfortunately over money. Due to my career choice, I am paid well, but not well enough to not have to worry about money. However, some family members believe I am rich or very well off. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Reality is that I have bills just like everyone else and a duty to pay them.

If for some reason, I am unable to provide when someone needs something, then suddenly I become the enemy. Sometimes I choose not to provide because I don’t trust that the money is being used for the right reasons. People often borrow money to use for unimportant reasons which end up putting them further in debt. Would it be morally right to loan someone money that you know they will use for a reason that isn’t morally right? Or if you know that they are unable to repay the loan, which will cause other issues with stress and depression. Sometimes when I say no, it’s because I request to know what the money is needed for, but don’t get a valid reason. Then I’m asked why I need to know. Well even the bank wants to know why, you need to borrow money and what you plan to use it for. It’s my money that I am choosing to loan and I’m not a bank that has an abundance of it. My moral dilemma is that I would feel like I’m giving drugs to a recovering drug user, if I give money that I believe will be used for a reason that will cause further issues. I have a duty to want to protect my family from unnecessary harm. Should I not want to adhere to my own moral obligations to make someone else happy?

My sister has a gambling problem among others, that she doesn’t want to admit to. Her nor my mother, will acknowledge that a problem exists. However, I see it and try to do my best to make her see that it’s not morally ok. She has a one- year old daughter and is a single mom. The child’s father isn’t in my sister’s or my niece’s life, other than to leach off them. He only calls my sister when he needs a ride somewhere or money. In the last year, I’ve seen my sister basically bottom out in her life. Due to her child’s father and her before mentioned gambling problem, she had lost her job and her vehicle. She was unable to afford to pay for a cell phone, so I added her to my plan. She agreed to pay the monthly fee, but even when she had a job, she didn’t pay me. Lately I feel more like a bank than a brother. Due to my sense of duty, I feel like it’s the right thing to do because she is not in a good position and she’s my sister. The problem with paying for her cellphone and loaning money that I knew she couldn’t afford to pay, she got too comfortable with forgoing her obligations. She seems to think it’s okay to gamble her money up, because big brother will always save the day. This has without a doubt driven her further in the hole and not the right thing to do in my opinion.

Is it morally right to deny a family member a loan, when you are financially able to? I say yes, it’s morally right when doing so would cause bigger issues. My sister has failed to realize her duty as a parent. Even though its not my responsibility to teach her and she has refused to listen to our parents, I feed the need to step in for the sake of her daughter’s future. My sister has taken up a habit in computer gambling, which is called sweepstakes where she lives. These establishments are largely illegal in that area and have been shut down numerous times for violations. What my sister was doing was going there on payday before paying her bills. After winning a great deal of money and making a profit, instead of leaving, she stays and tries to win more. The problem arises once she starts losing and then loses what she originally came with. Now she doesn’t have money to pay her bills and asks for a loan. However, the loan she asks for is not to pay her bills, but to gamble more in hopes of winning. That I have a problem with because I don’t do that myself.

Conclusion

In the case of my sister, I started to deny her loans and insisted that she start taking responsibility for her actions. Going back to duty ethics, I feel that saying no is just the right thing to. I am teaching her that gambling your car payment is not the right thing to do. Along with not being the right thing, it’s not fiscally responsible when you have a child or financial obligations. She had no sense of duty and had never been taught about ethics, but I chose to teach her. Duty ethics in my opinion is the best approach and the basis to determining right or wrong. My sister was looking at life as if the consequences of her actions determined if her decision was right or wrong. Her thought was if I win tonight then I can pay some bills, and not thinking that if I lose then I need to borrow money that I can’t repay. I feel like she is finally starting to see that its best to do what’s right because it’s the right to do. My sister now has a better sense of duty to make good ethical decisions. During this course I have learned a lot about ethics. Before taking this course, I didn’t realize that there were so many different approaches to ethics or doing the right thing.

Bibliography

1. Jones. Moral Reasoning: An Intentional Approach to Distinguishing Right from Wrong. Liberty University Online Bookshelf. Jones, Michael S. Moral Reasoning: An Intentional Approach to Distinguishing Right from Wrong. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt, 2017.
2. Johnson, Robert and Cureton, Adam, ‘Kant’s Moral Philosophy’, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .

Trying to find out the words to use in this essay was so difficult because there are so many words to choose from. People may think you can never agree in things of people coming from different cultures or what they go through. You should never forget where you are from or make someone change on what you want to do. In America there is a ton of thousands of people from different cultures that they have the right to be themselves, but also be following the laws of the country. To be American means being loyal to country, sacrifice and helping others that are not from the United States.

In the article, “Veterans Day:Never Forget Their Duty” explains the symbol of loyalty and a way to visibly remain loyal to the United States and one another. Saying the pledge of allegiance brought the people closer to have hope that they will go out of the prison. In paragraph 8 it says, “… for those men in that stark prison cell, it was, indeed, the most important and meaningful event of our day.” For some people in that cell people thought it was just a waste of time of them saying the pledge because they thought they were getting out. The soldiers knew that it was a risk to hide it from the guards, but they had the dedication to keep saying the Pledge for the honor they had for it. Most people don’t have the honor or courage to say the Pledge of Allegiance but, out of respect all people that live in this country should say the Pledge.

Additionally, people should not forget that Americans sacrifice their lives for us and try to give us the freedom to do things out in our country. Using the Veterans Day: Never Forget Their Duty article it says that one of their soldiers Mike Christian got hurt badly because the guards found out they had the flag in the shirt of Mikes. Mike sacrificed himself for using his shirt to hide the flag and for getting beat up for hours. In the article it says in paragraph 13, “ Sitting there, with his eyes shut from bis beating, making another American flag.” The soldier didn’t know why he was doing the flag for if he was in so much pain, but saw that he did it because Mike knew how important it was for the soldiers to be able to pledge to the flag. Also, using the Visual Rhetoric Analysis the image of the Battle of Gettyberg, 1863 it showed the soldiers that sacrificed themselves for their country. For some people it’s hard for them to sacrifice their lives so, you would have to have the courage, honor and have the duty to want to give your people freedom.

Furthermore, Americans will be people who help others that don’t know how to speak English or feel comfortable to be in America. In the article of My English, she explains that it was hard to understand or like to speak English especially when it’s not your first language. Julia Alvarez had trouble to talk fluently in English but, her mother will help her by saying, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. But would you be needing some butter on your bread.” Her mother wants her to get good at Englsih but, she was confusing her english with her spanish that can be hard. Alvarez went to a school in the United States her teacher would tell her the different word of the spanish word to say it right. With people helping others to speak English they find the fun out of slang, jokes, idioms, and more. People should keep in consideration that helping others is the best thing to do to make them feel good or be glad to help them.

In conclusion, being an American is finding ways to be loyal, sacrifice anything they have even there own lives, and also helping the people in need of learning the English language. Working together will get you in more progress to know the American world or even people just fighting together in wars they all become one family. Becoming one family meaning different cultures that are in the same country they try to fight for the right to have freedom in the United States.

Taxes help the government operate and work out and really make the economy thrive. Taxes usually increase over the years and some citizens do not abide by the law of this civic duty. Taxes can be hard to pay but it’s a big price of having to do civic duties if you’re in the United States. Taxes help with most budgeting from the government. Taxes are an essential part of the government operating and are fundamental.

Medicare is a huge service that taxes pay for and is beneficial to a lot of people in the United States. Many people that are either poor or in a bad spot in life really need this kind of healthcare and without it, many people would pass away or be badly harmed and not fully taken care of. Americans that do not pay their taxes for medicare are looked at as bad and this is something huge that is against the law. Taxes really are set on helping other Americans out and is essential to the economy because its making sure that everyone can afford to have insurance and still purchase and receive other things as well. Funding needs to be a part of everything that is a need in the economy, or else it will drop.

Roadwork is another huge occupation and service that needs to be provided with taxes. The roads that everyone drives on rather it be a bus, motorcycle, truck, or car is an essential part of the economy and everyday life of people in America. Most everyone can agree that the more funding or taxes that are put into roadwork are crucial because the outcome is less damage to their vehicles. The potholes can get very large which is a major problem with slowing vehicles down to go under the speed limit, cause a lot of damage on the vehicles with tires and other parts, and put drivers in a huge amount of danger. Every American citizen needs to put taxes into roadwork to pay for workers along with the supplies for the work.

School systems are one of the most crucial things that taxes can pay for and remain one of the biggest parts of the economy. Schools provide education, responsibility, and get students prepared for the real world. Tax payers are designated by district to pay for the funding that goes into each and every school. A lot of people would argue that a lot of students go to other schools because its school of choice and that they do not want to fund people outside of the district but this is not a valid reason to get out of taxes. Education is the main foundation for the younger generation to be able to learn and adapt to things to really understand and prepare for a job. Without schooling students would not be prepared and less taxes would really go into the government therefore there would be a huge loss.

Taxes are always needed and no one in America should be allowed to get out of having their civic duty to have to pay them. Anyone who says taxes are irresponsible and think that they should not be allowed is wrongful. Taxes have to be provided and paid or else no funding would be in any government or state owned facilities. In order for Americans to have jobs, benefits, and needs they have an obligated need to pay their taxes. Many people are poor, but its still no excuse to not pay their taxes or make random observations on why they shouldn’t. Taxes end up being beneficial to everyone in one way or another and you can not escape a civic duty. Taxes are an essential part of the government operating and are fundamental.