On March 9, 2005 in the Midwestern United States, four high school boys pulled a developmentally disabled 16-year-old girl into an empty school auditorium and sexually assaulted her — as one of the boys videotaped them. More than a dozen other students came running when they heard what was happening — not to help, but to watch. What led these youths to engage — whether actively or passively — in such violent and violative acts?
When the girl's father, who had been summoned to the school by her teacher, insisted on calling police, an assistant principal twice urged him not to make the call because the school did not want the negative attention. By the time the police arrived, all of the administrators had gone home for the day. How could school administrators possibly choose to
Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, a Japanese billionaire who has been the world's wealthiest person and, along with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, was one of three honorary members of the IOC
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preserve the reputation of the school over the health and safety of this girl?
On the same day, a Japanese billionaire, arrested for insider trading and falsifying financial statements at his company, was also having his title stripped of honorary member of the International Olympic Committee, which he earned in 1998 for bringing the Olympics to Nagano — an accomplishment that substantially improved his own businesses at Japanese taxpayer expense. Where did this billionaire go wrong? Why?
Meanwhile, on March 9, 2005 in another part of the globe, a UN envoy warned of "mass death, mass suffering for millions of people" in Darfur, Sudan; hundreds of thousands of women and girls are being sexually assaulted, their villages are being destroyed, but the Sudanese government and the international community have not intervened.
Displaced children in Kebkabiya, North Darfur
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Not unlike the bystander students in that U.S. high school, we are watching, but doing nothing. How does this happen and what is our ethical obligation as a globally connected society?
Ethics
Ethics deals with moral duties and obligations, with deciding what is good and what is right, and acting accordingly. Ethical decisions present themselves as a part of nearly every waking moment of our lives. We are constantly faced with opportunities to decide what is good and right, and whether to do it. Why do we so often hear stories like those above? What is missing in the ethical fabric of society?
Do society's leaders today understand ethical behavior? Do they support and promote it? Will the next generation of leaders? How important are empathy and ethics as part of a child's education in your community? What are the skills necessary for people to be able to participate fully and ethically in our modern society? How can children be equipped with these skills if they lack this opportunity through formal education or role models in their community?
Ashoka and the Institute for Global Ethics believe that people can learn to be ethical, empathetic and morally courageous. Unfortunately, it appears that all too often ethics is not the primary guiding force in how we interact today as a society. How can adults and youths together create a more ethical, morally courageous and empathetic society?
What Stops Us from Being Ethical?
Ashoka's Innovative Learning Initiative and Institute for Global Ethics have distilled five core reasons why ethics is not the primary guiding force in our global society:
- Fatalism. There is a pervasive sense — from the jungles of Colombia to Wall Street — that individual actions are without overarching consequence. "I can't change things; it's always been this way." Steeped in a history of unethical behavior, people grow complacent and feel powerless to change it.
- Ignorance of consequences. People often realize they are doing something they shouldn't, but they don't see the full implications of their actions and how others can be hurt by them. If they stop and think through how their actions hurt others, they are less likely to follow through with such actions.
- Otherness. The less we know and understand other persons or groups, and the more they are "different" from us, the easier it is for us to act unethically toward them.
- Values extremism. Throughout history, groups have pitted their values against each other. Rather than guiding ethical behavior, values often are used to justify unethical behavior — persecution, aggression, mistreatment. We see this today, with religious and political extremisms, among others. Rather than seeking common ground to work together, extremists hold themselves as "right" and opponents as "wrong." and use values as license for unconscionable behavior.
- Individualism. There is a sense in our society of each person needing to look out for him/herself. When our sense of responsibility turns away from the community to only ourselves we are more likely to act irresponsibly toward the rest of the community.
Finding Solutions to Building an Ethics-Driven Society
There are many organizations and individuals around the world who are addressing one or more of these issues often through quite innovative approaches. Ashoka and the Institute for Global Ethics have distilled many of these approaches into four core principles:
- Developing our self awareness and interconnectivity with others
- Demonstrating that people are more alike than different, and enabling people to discover common ideals, principles and language
- Building skills in how to care, uphold values and make principled choices
- Enabling self-permission to change oneself or one's circumstances
Underlying these core approaches are two critical elements: moral courage and empathy. Moral courage is the quality of mind and spirit that enables one to face up to ethical dilemmas and moral wrongdoings. Empathy is the ability to understand others, see commonalities, and take others into consideration when we act. Based on research at the Institute for Global Ethics the five values most common to human beings irrespective of gender, age, race, religiosity or nationality relate to such core concepts as: honesty, fairness, respect, responsibility and compassion. Moral courage and empathy both support and often result from these five values. Both moral courage and empathy are skills that can be learned. They are skills in understanding others and having the courage to treat them honestly and fairly, with respect, responsibility and compassion. These skills can be honed through exposure, modeling and practice.
In the Ethics Mosaic, you will find examples of social entrepreneurs and organizations addressing the challenge of shaping a more ethical society through the types of approaches described above. This "Mosaic" will be updated as you, the Changemakers community, add new ideas.
The Role of Youth
Young people are an important constituent in this effort. Young people are more likely to be open to new ideas for spreading ethical behavior. Young people are not only leaders in the future but they are also leaders today — in the business world, in civil society and even in government. How can we ensure that young people especially are equipped with the empathy and moral courage skills they need to be ethical and positive members of society?
An Opportunity for All of Us
The Changemakers Innovation Award in Ethics is looking for innovative ideas from you for how adults and young people together can create a more ethical, morally courageous and empathetic society. Changemakers will give an award of $5,000 to the top three entries, as voted by the Changemakers community of readers. Additionally, there is a possibility that Changemakers will bring together the awardees with other innovators in the field for a meeting to discuss ideas and consider collaboration. If you have an idea and would like to submit it to the Changemakers Innovation Award, please read the competition criteria and fill out the application form. We look forward to receiving your ideas!
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