Category Archives: Ethical Egoism

Over thirty million copies of English-language editions of Ayn Rands books have been sold since the 1940s, with many more in dozens of other languages, and sales have not slowed down [1]. This articles sub-title captures the heart of why her workespecially her fictionhas enduring appeal, despite academia and the popular press being generally...

Over thirty million copies of English-language editions of Ayn Rands books have been sold since the 1940s, with many more in dozens of other languages, and sales have not slowed down [1]. This articles sub-title captures the heart of why her workespecially her fictionhas enduring appeal, despite academia and the popular press being generally hostile even to the mention of her name. The quotation appears in the last part of The Fountainhead, Rands 1943 novel that put her on the cultural map. A young man recently graduated from college rides his bicycle through the hills of Pennsylvania, wondering whether life is worth living and whether he should pursue his dream of being a composer. He longs to see others achievements as tangible products of their quest for happiness, if only to see that its possible. Suddenly, he is confronted with a newly finished summer home community that seems to spring organically from the sides of the hills. He notices a man perched on a boulder who serenely gazes over the beautiful homes in the valley below. After finding out that the manHoward Roarkis the architect responsible for the scene before them, he thanks Roark and confidently rides off into his future armed with the courage to face a lifetime.

Many readers have been inspired by these words, amazed at the story unfolding before their eyes. Its unusual to encounter literature that embodies such benevolent, life-affirming values. This is an extraordinary kind of Heros Journey. Filled not only with heroes meeting challenges with the assistance of friends against ones foes, it also contains the message that philosophy mattersfor everyone. How well or poorly your life goes depends on whether you hold the right ideas or not. The Fountainheadas well as Rands 1957 magnum opus, Atlas Shruggedpaints a world where happiness and joy are attainable through using ones mind to pursue ones passion with integrity and to face and overcome obstacles with reality-oriented determination. Its a universe where achievement is possible; self-esteem is earned through productive work; and voluntary interactions foster intensely rewarding personal, social, and professional relationships. And its a reality that any person can choose to help create every day of ones life.

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"Rand's work contains the message that philosophy mattersfor everyone. How well or poorly your life goes depends on whether you hold the right ideas or not." ___

Journeying through the rest of Rands corpusher fiction as well as her non-fiction philosophy, which she named Objectivismis challenging and rewarding. The essentials of Objectivism are: reality exists, we can know reality objectively through our senses and the use of reason, ones own happiness is ones highest moral purpose (egoism), limited government is justified only for the protection of individual rights, people should be free to trade the fruits of their work (capitalism), and the purpose of art is to project and experience in concrete form ones vision of life. Many people have been engaged and inspired by these ideas, ideally using them as springboards for further thought about whats true and how best to live. There are also many who reject Rands ideas, though few of those have bothered to read her work carefully (or at all) before passing judgment on it.

A small sample of vitriol hurled at Rands work in popular media includes: complete lack of charity; execrable claptrap and a personality as compelling as a sledge hammer; crackpot . . . an historical anachronism and a wretched novelist; an absurd philosophy and a total crock. [2] Both supporters and detractors of her work have also noted the derision that many philosophers have for it, dismissing her work contemptuously on the basis of hearsay or laugh[ing] out of the room anyone bringing up her name [3]. Add to the vitriol some of the oft-repeated myths about Rands views:

(1) She is Conservative and high priestess of the acute Right on the American political spectrum. [4]

(2) She takes Nietzschean individualism to an extreme. [5]

(3) In upholding selfishness, individuals should never care about anyone else, even regarding them as totally expendable tools to be manipulated. At best, charity or benevolence is a minor virtue. [6]

(4) She was an unabashed apologist for dog-eat-dog capitalism, allowing the rich to cozy up to government in plutocratic fashion. [7]

The ad hominem attacks above are best brushed aside into the dustbin of history. Mischaracterizations can be dispelled by examining Rands work for what it says. First, Rands views dont fit neatly into either the political Right or Left. She was a radical for individual rights who rejected the false dichotomy between personal and economic freedom, and rejected being labeled Conservative or Libertarian. A portion of the Rightnamely, some Libertarians and Tea Party membershave supported parts of Rands theory. However, a staunch anti-religion naturalist, she angers many on the Right by defending rights to abortion, free speech, and drugs regardless of her own stance on the moral worth of those activities. She angers the Left even more by opposing welfare-state redistribution and defending rights to private property and keeping ones income. [8]

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"Rands defense of capitalism is grounded in her view of egoism. We each need to create the material and spiritual values needed to live as humans. We gain immeasurably through exchanging values voluntarily with others." ___

Regarding the second myth, Rand read some of Friedrich Nietzsches works when she was in college. She undeniably shares with him a polemical writing style and acknowledges that she admires his sense of mans potential for greatness. This is stated at the same time, though, as Rand expresses her profound disagreement with what she sees as Nietzsches mysticism, irrationalism, subordination of reason to the will-to-power, and malevolent view of the world. [9] Her greatest intellectual debt is owed instead to Aristotlemetaphysical and epistemological realist and defender of reason and virtue ethicswho she regarded as the greatest of all philosophers. [10]

The third myth vanishes when we examine Rands version of egoism. An egoist is one who regards oneself as the ultimatenot the onlybeneficiary of ones actions. Heroes in all of Rands novels risk their lives for the sake of valuesincluding other peoplethey hold dear. She defends ones choice to assist strangers in emergency and everyday contexts out of good will toward other living beings, so long as doing so is not a sacrificial duty that jeopardizes ones well-being. Rand even dubs as psychopaths those who are totally indifferent to anything living. [11] How does this square with egoism? It begins with a proper conception of the self. We are human beingsnot animalswith a reasoning mind to be integrated with ones emotions. Goals worth pursuing for ones long-term survival can be achieved only in certain ways, namely, by exercising virtues such as rationality, productiveness, pride, independence, integrity, honesty, and justice. These virtues demand the best of our selves, precluding the initiation of force against other persons or attempts to gain benefits from them through deceit or fraud. [12]

The fourth myth has been the most persistent, for defending capitalism on moral grounds requires fighting against millennia of prejudice against money-making. Think, for example, of the Biblical proverb of how its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to gain entrance to Heaven or how Shylock is scorned for making money on loans in Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice. Rands defense of capitalism is grounded in her view of egoism. We each need to create the material and spiritual values needed to live as humans. We gain immeasurably through exchanging values voluntarily with others. Rand calls this the trader principle. Those who seek to gain resources through coercive meansthe ones Rand depicts as villains in her novelsare either private criminals or political cronies who violate individual rights. Genuine businessmen dont seek political favors or otherwise subvert the rule of law. When free to trade voluntarily, they innovate, produce job opportunities, and increase living standards. In short, they create wealth by applying their minds to the task of living, leading to win-win outcomes. [13]

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"President Donald Trump is an alleged Ayn Rand acolyte", but being a fan of Rands work is not the same as understanding her views, applying them properly, or living up to them consistently in ones own life." ___

It should be apparent by now why so many people find Rands work appealing. Her views, thoughlike any otherscan and should be scrutinized, critiqued, and developed where needed. Philosophers who have taken her work seriously disagree about how to understand some of Rands key ideas. For example, there are rival interpretations of what she means by the claim that our ultimate aim is life, or survival as man qua man, and whether this is equivalent to eudaimonism, the view that flourishing (which centrally involves virtue) is our ultimate aim. [14] Some eudaimonists argue that virtue, not life, is the ultimate value and that it might conflict with egoism, which would create problems for Rands ethical theory. More than anything, though, Rands philosophical system is under-developed in some ways. She herself refers to her non-fiction collections as outlines, previews, and introductions to material that she had intended to write book-length treatments of (though she didnt end up doing so). [15]

Having addressed some of the most significant misunderstandings of Objectivism, we can ask: What accounts for the persistent hostility and misrepresentation? The reasons are several. Some people might assume that such depictions accurately represent Rands views, and then they repeat those falsehoods. Such individuals can instead withhold comment until dispelling their ignorance of the source rather than rely on someone elses judgments about it.

Others read Rands work and disagree partially or entirely with her views. This is unsurprising, given that she challenges many sacred cows, including religion, altruism, determinism, collectivism, and subjectivism. While a relative few in this category engage in fair and honest discussion about her ideas [16], many either misunderstand Rand and end up mischaracterizing her views or willfully misrepresent them to dissuade others from taking her seriously. Its unfortunately easier to demonize ones opponents than to argue with them.

For others, their rejection of Rand is based less on the content of her views than on her sense of life. Its fashionable, especially among academics and public intellectuals, to be jaded, cynical, and ironic. Rands workwith its hallmarks of benevolence and heroismthankfully exhibits none of these. It instead offers a spirit of youthful optimism that provides resilience needed to achieve a good life and endure with grace lifes unavoidable challenges. In addition, professional philosophers are put off by Rands dearth of footnotes and bibliographical apparatus as well as her non-analytic, polemical style that attacks others views with little exposition of them.

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"Whether one agrees with Rands provocative views or not, its valuable for philosophers to take them seriously and study them carefully. Her theory provides a systematic alternative to other schools of thought and challenges the academys conventional wisdom to keep us on our intellectual toes" ___

Yet others, who claim to be fans or supporters of Rands work, accidentally contribute to perpetuating falsehoods about her views. One need only look to a list of some prominent politicians and entrepreneurs to see this phenomenon. For example, President Donald Trump is an alleged Ayn Rand acolyte, accused of stack[ing] his cabinet with fellow Objectivists, such as Rex Tillerson and Michael Pompeo. In addition, Travis Kalanicks ignominious fall from the heights of Uber CEO-hood has been described as the latest Icarus-like plunge of a prominent Rand follower, and Andrew Pudzer, an avid Ayn Rand reader, withdrew from his nomination as Secretary of Labor due to allegations of worker mistreatment at his fast-food chains [17]. These individuals may have been inspired by reading Rands works to follow their lifes path. However, one is hard-pressed to call any of them Objectivists, since they either reject key tenets of Rands theory by being religious or have chosen to act in some ways antithetical to it by cutting crony deals or performing other vicious deeds. Being a fan of Rands work is not the same as understanding her views, applying them properly, or living up to them consistently in ones own life. There are plenty of good people living their lives in a principled waywhether as CEOs, teachers, or mechanicswho have been inspired by Rands ideas. Their moral decency doesnt make headline news, though.

Whether one agrees with Rands provocative views or not, its valuable for philosophers to take them seriously and study them carefully. Her theory provides a systematic alternative to other schools of thought and challenges the academys conventional wisdom to keep us on our intellectual toes. She reframes traditional philosophical questions in ways that cut through what she considers to be false dichotomies: mind/body, reason/emotion, moral/practical, duty/utility, intrinsic/subjective, nature/nurture. This leaves conceptual space to offer and defend a third way on a range of significant philosophical issues.

Rand offers Objectivism as a philosophy for living, not just contemplating, not just existing and getting by. We have minds equipped to deal with the world, a world where we can be efficacious. So long as there are individuals committed to their own happiness, voluntary cooperation, reaching for the best within themselves, and creating the social and political institutions needed for achieving these values in a free and responsible way, Rands work will continue to speak to countless numbers of people in all walks of life. But dont take myor anyone elsesword for it. Exercise the virtue of independence and read Rands work for yourself. Youll see firsthand what the enduring appeal is all about.

***

[1] Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri, eds., A Companion to Ayn Rand (Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2016), p. 15 n. 1.

[2] Bruce Cook, Ayn Rand: A Voice in the Wilderness, Catholic World, vol. 201 (May 1965), p. 121; John Kobler, The Curious Cult of Ayn Rand, The Saturday Evening Post (November 11, 1961), p. 99; Dora Jane Hamblin, The Cult of Angry Ayn Rand, Life (April 7, 1967), p. 92; Geoffrey James, Top 10 Reasons Ayn Rand Was Dead Wrong, CBS News Moneywatch (September 16, 2010), accessed online at: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-10-reasons-ayn-rand-was-dead-wrong/.

[3] Neera Badhwar and Roderick Long, Ayn Rand, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (September 19, 2016), accessed online at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ayn-rand/; James Stewart, As a Guru, Ayn Rand May Have Limits. Ask Travis Kalanick, The New York Times (July 13, 2017), accessed online at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/business/ayn-rand-business-politics-uber-kalanick.html.

[4] Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Psyching Out Ayn Rand, Ms. (September 1978), p. 24. See also, e.g., Jonathan Chait, Wealthcare: Ayn Rand and the Invincible Cult of Selfishness on the American Right, New Republic (September 14, 2009), accessed online at: https://newrepublic.com/article/69239/wealthcare-0; Jennifer Burns, Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 4.

[5] Stewart, As a Guru, Ayn Rand May Have Limits. See also, e.g., Gene Bell-Villada, On Nabakov, Ayn Rand, and the Libertarian Mind (Newcastle on Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2013), chap. 5.

[6] See James, Top 10 Reasons Ayn Rand Was Dead Wrong, Skikha Dalmia, Where Ayn Rand Went Wrong, Forbes (November 4, 2009), accessed online at: https://www.forbes.com/2009/11/03/where-ayn-rand-went-wrong-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html, and Michael Huemer, Why I Am Not an Objectivist, accessed online at: http://www.owl232.net/rand.htm, for the former view, and Badhwar and Long, Ayn Rand, for the latter.

[7] Gerald Jonas, Reviewed This Week (four sci-fi novels), The New York Times (August 30, 1998), accessed online at: http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/08/30/reviews/980830.30scifit.html. See also, e.g., James, Top 10 Reasons Ayn Rand Was Dead Wrong and James Hohmann, The Daily 202: Ayn Rand Acolyte Donald Trump Stacks His Cabinet with Fellow Objectivists, The Washington Post (December 13, 2016), accessed online at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/12/13/daily-202-ayn-rand-acolyte-donald-trump-stacks-his-cabinet-with-fellow-objectivists/584f5cdfe9b69b36fcfeaf3b/?utm_term=.d56b46b8c78c.

[8] Rands public policy views are scattered over dozens of essays, but a general synthesis can be found in John David Lewis and Gregory Salmieri, A Philosopher on Her Times, in Gotthelf and Salmieri, A Companion to Ayn Rand, pp. 351-402.

[9] Ayn Rand, Introduction, in her The Fountainhead, 25th anniversary ed. (New York: New American Library, 1968), p. x.

[10] Ayn Rand, The Objectivist Ethics, in her The Virtue of Selfishness (New York: Signet, 1964), p. 14.

[11] Ayn Rand, The Ethics of Emergencies, in Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness, pp. 43-44.

[12] Rand, The Objectivist Ethics, pp. 22-32.

[13] See Rand, The Objectivist Ethics, pp. 32-34, and Ayn Rand, What Is Capitalism? and Americas Persecuted Minority: Big Business, in her Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (New York: Signet, 1966), pp. 11-34 and 44-62.

[14] See, e.g., Allan Gotthelf, The Morality of Life, in Gotthelf and Salmieri, A Companion to Ayn Rand, pp. 73-104; Gregory Salmieri, Egoism and Altruism, in Gotthelf and Salmieri, A Companion to Ayn Rand, pp. 130-56; Neera Badhwar, Well-Being: Happiness in a Worthwhile Life (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014); Lester Hunt, Flourishing Egoism, Social Philosophy and Policy, vol. 16, no. 1 (1999), pp. 72-95; and Roderick Long, Reason and Value: Aristotle versus Ayn Rand (Poughkeepsie, NY: Objectivist Center, 2000).

[15] The task of developing Objectivist-inspired work that interprets and fleshes out lacunae in Rands system falls to others. See, e.g., Tara Smith, Ayn Rands Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006); Tara Smith, Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015); and Allan Gotthelf and James Lennox, eds., Concepts and Their Role in Knowledge: Reflections on Objectivist Epistemology (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013). All of these works engage with the wider philosophical literature in ways that Rand did not.

[16] One such exception is an excellent piece by John Piper; see his The Ethics of Ayn Rand: Appreciation and Critique, Desiring God (June 1, 1979; revised October 9, 2007), accessed online at: http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-ethics-of-ayn-rand. A Christian who thinks that Rand is mistaken about rejecting theism, Piper nonetheless offers a careful, nuanced articulation of her ethical egoism. Would that all critics were to take such care with the views of their interlocutors.

[17] Hohmann, The Daily 202: Ayn Rand Acolyte Donald Trump Stacks His Cabinet with Fellow Objectivists; Stewart, As A Guru, Ayn Rand May Have Limits.

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The Courage to Face a Lifetime: On the Enduring Value of Ayn Rand's Philosophy - IAI News

Choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed. Deuteronomy 30:19 (The Israel Bible)

IDF medics operate a field hospital of injured Syrians near Israels northern border. (IDF Blog)

For the first time in Israels history, top surgeons throughout Israel and the Israel Defense Force (IDF) gathered to learn a new medical technique which stops bleeding in cases of trauma without an incision. Trauma specialists from South Africa, the US and Sweden came to the Holy Land to teach and demonstrate the groundbreaking procedure. The workshop took place on Kibbutz Lahav in Israels southern region, with eighty medical personnel in attendance.

LIBI USA is honored to have sponsored this trailblazing three-day workshop which will, no doubt, save lives in Israel and worldwide, shared Dr. John A.I. Grossman, Chairman of LIBI USA, the official welfare fund of the IDF, with Breaking Israel News. It was also a unique opportunity for medical professionals to unite in Israel, as saving lives is a Jewish and Israeli priority.

Dr. Grossman referred to the Biblical commandment of pikuach nefesh, the preservation of human life. This commandment, derived from the Book of Leviticus, is so basic to Judaism is that it takes precedence over all others.

So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them. Leviticus 18:5

The Talmud emphasizes that one should live by the commandments, not die by them. One who is zealous in saving a life is praised and one who hesitates to save a life is considered as one who has shed the persons blood themselves, which the sages describe as piety of madness. In fact, to save and preserve a life, one must desecrate the Sabbath and even eat on the fast day of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year.

This is a new technique which requires specialized training in a controlled setting to master, explained Colonel (res.) Dr. Ofer Merin, Director of the Trauma Unit and Preparedness of Mass Casualty Events at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem and Commander of the IDF Field Hospital and General Staffs Surgical Hospital Unit, to Breaking Israel News. We are truly grateful to Dr. Grossman and LIBI USA for funding these life-saving workshops as simulated trauma scenarios with the use of REBOA are crucial to master this new technique.

Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta, or REBOA, is used when a person is rapidly bleeding to death. It involves the placement of a flexible catheter balloon into the aorta to control haemorrhaging in traumatic injuries and then inflating the balloon, which stops the bleeding.

The head of the Trauma and Combat Medicine Branch for the IDF, Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Avraham Yitzhak, was part of the team of experts learning and assessing the effectiveness and practicality of using REBOA on Israeli soldier trauma victims. This important workshop united civilian and army surgeons to train in the cutting edge REBOA technology. Because of this workshop, the IDF might have an additional way to save lives, Dr. Yitzhak told Breaking Israel News. We are grateful to LIBI USA for sponsoring these days.

Dr. Yitzhak also discussed the IDFs commitment to pikuach nefesh. IDF physicians have three levels of oaths they take concerning the saving of lives, he said. We have the Hippocratic Oath, which every doctor in the world is obligated to uphold. In addition, we have the Oath of Maimonides and the oath of the Israeli Medical Corp, My Brothers Keeper.

The essence of the Oath of Maimonides, named for its originator, a 12th century scholar of Jewish law and philosophy, is to watch over the life and health of Gods creatures without egoism.

The essence of the Israeli Medics Oath is that medics will give everything, including their own lives, for the State of Israel and its people and will treat friend or foe alike, in all conditions, and never leave anyone in the field.

In Israel, we tend to be busy with trying to live fulfilling lives or dieing at the hands of our enemies, shared Dr. Yitzhak. IDF medics risk their lives to give correct care to everyone, including wounded Syrians across our border, humanitarian aid to people all over the world and even medical care to our enemies.

Unfortunately, we havent taken the time and arent good at explaining to the world how ethical, moral and valuing of life we are. This workshop helps to build that knowledge worldwide and gain life-saving skills in addition.

To donate to LIBI USA and support the IDF, please visit here.

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IDF Medics to Learn Groundbreaking Trauma Procedure - Breaking Israel News

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egoism | philosophy | Britannica.com

In a city of glass, where people who are just Numbers living in glass-brick houses, and everyones daily routine is determined by the Tables of the Hours set down by the Well-Doer, one particular Number, D-503, is developing a dangerous affliction. He is nurturing a soul. This could put his life and that of his loved ones in mortal danger, because in this future One State, where logic rules, sex is rationed and love banned, a budding soul is an indication of developing individuality and separateness. But the state believes: nobody is one, but one of. We are so alike...

We, Yevgeny Zamyatins chilling account of a future world state ruled by Reason is arguably one of the granddads of dystopia. Initially available as secret samizdat editions (1921) in the erstwhile Soviet Union, the book was smuggled out of USSR and first appeared in English in 1924 published by EP Dutton, New York. The novel was an immediate hit in western intellectual circles though its author, under attack from Soviet authorities, had to seek exile in France where he died in poverty. Here perhaps for the first time, fiction had engaged head on with the imagined workings of a totalitarian dictatorship in a manner never attempted before.

But did dystopian fiction really hit the road with Zamyatins We? Leaving aside the academic argument that any fictional work about a utopia has the elements of a dystopia embedded in it and that such writing about a utopia takes us back all the way to Platos Republic and Thomas Mores Utopia, let us look at this snippet from a short story written in 1891 by the well-known humorist author Jerome Klapka Jerome. A man has woken up from 1000-year-long sleep, and finds himself in London where he needs a bath:

No; we are not allowed to wash ourselves. You must wait until half-past four, and then you will be washed for tea. Be washed! I cried. Who by?

The State. He said that they had found they could not maintain their equality when people were allowed to wash themselves. Some people washed three or four times a day, while others never touched soap and water from one years end to the other, and in consequence there got to be two distinct classes, the Clean and the Dirty.

This story about London, 1,000 years after a socialist revolution, is a snapshot introduction to dystopia, where the best laid plans for a state of equality have resulted in completely undesirable consequences. Jeromes story seems to have influenced and inspired the anti-utopian fiction that followed.

A running theme and essentially what lies at the heart of all dystopian writing is the conflict of freedom and happiness. In Zamyatins book, the government of the One State (United State in Zilboorgs translation) has curtailed all freedoms. A poet talking about paradise tells the character D-503 how Adam and Eve were offered a choice between happiness without freedom, and freedom without happiness, and how they stupidly chose the latter. The government of the One State claims to have restored this lost happiness to its subjects.

Its a pity that this mighty little book is hardly ever discussed in this country. Our introduction to dystopian fiction has been through the works of two British authors Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. Some would of course mention here Jack Londons The Iron Heel, popular in the last century and of which a Bengali translation also exists. But for most others, it is the prophetic vision of Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four which between them, introduced us to the dystopian tradition a kind of writing, increasingly popular in our present times, when we always seem to be a step away from the scary possibilities of an anti-utopia.

Huxleys novel, published in 1932, which ended up in some of the top reading lists of our times, presents us with a nightmarish vision of a distant future where genetic modification, hypnopaedia and Pavlovian conditioning have created a caste-system based on intelligence and aptitude. The uncanny clairvoyance of this work and its literary brilliance have ensured its place in the pantheon of dystopia before which all practitioners of this form pay obeisance or offer a hat tip.

Numerous works come to mind and it could be a literary detectives favourite pastime to spot traces of Brave New World in the works of Margaret Atwood, to hear its echo in a scene from David Mitchell or perhaps to remember, while reading Doris Lessings Mara and Dann, how those bands of men in post ice age Ifrik (Africa) who all looked the same, resemble Huxleys Bokanovsky groups of individuals created from single embryos.

True to the dystopian school, the question of freedom versus happiness is also central to Huxleys plot. There we find a primitive world of freedom and instincts existing within the ordered dystopia of the World State, in an electric-fenced New Mexican reservation from which we get John or The Savage, one of the principal characters of the book. Again, in one of many poignant scenes of this novel, the sleep-learning specialist, Bernard Marx and the foetus technician, Lenina Crowne, hover over the dark frothing waves of the English channel in their helicopter, and Lenina says:

I dont know what you mean. I am free. Free to have the most wonderful time. Everybodys happy nowadays.

He laughed.

Yes, Everybodys happy nowadays. We begin giving the children that at five. But wouldnt you like to be free to be happy in some other way, Lenina? In your own way, for example; not in everybody elses way.

Quite obviously the similarities between We and Brave New World are not hard to find and in fact, while reviewing Zamyatins book, George Orwell went so far as to say Huxleys novel might have been partly derived from We, which Huxley later denied.

In fact this equally applies to Nineteen Eighty-Four, which seems to have drawn quite a bit of inspiration from the Russian novelist. Charringtons antique shop and the shabby little room upstairs which has preserved an old world charm seems to echo the Antique House in Zamyatins We, just as the character OBrien, who pretends to be a member of the secret Brotherhood working against Big Brother in Nineteen Eighty-Four reminds us of the character S-4711, one of the Guardians in We. But the DNA of dystopian fiction has many common sources and certain foundational themes, so it is nothing out of the ordinary to discover traits of one work in the storyline or characters of another.

Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, a book stamped for ever in the psyche of all freedom-loving individuals, was set in the dehumanised totalitarian state of Oceania ruled by Big Brother. Here the protagonist Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth, which is responsible for propaganda. Similarly the Ministry of Peace is responsible for War while the Ministry of Love conducts torture and maintains law and order.

Surveillance, the cruelty of the state and the Partys quest for absolute power are the running themes of Orwells novel, which brings it closer to Zamyatins We, while the dystopia of Brave New World, milder on the surface but with an ending equally dehumanising, is managed through genetic engineering, mental conditioning, fostering of consumerism and the use of the magic drug soma.

Like the other two books, Nineteen Eighty-four also delves into the freedom-versus-happiness question. As the protagonist Winston Smith is incarcerated and tortured in the chambers of the Ministry of Love by the large and burly OBrien, who is an Inner Party member, many thoughts pass through his mind:

He knew in advance what OBrien would say. That the Party did not seek power for its own ends, but only for the good of the majority. That it sought power because men in the mass were frail cowardly creatures who could not endure liberty or face the truth, and must be ruled over and systematically deceived by others who were stronger than themselves. That the choice for mankind lay between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness was better.

Greater good and happiness have almost always been the guiding principle for utopias which have often morphed into dystopias depending on what we are looking for. In her essay about Brave New World, Margaret Atwood lucidly illustrates this point when she writes:

Brave New World is either a perfect-world utopia or its nasty opposite, a dystopia, depending on your point of view: its inhabitants are beautiful, secure and free from diseases and worries, though in a way we like to think we would find unacceptable.

In our present times when the assaults on freedom by despots, increased surveillance from the humble CCTVs to the Five Eyes Alliance, climate change and its looming dangers, new gene technologies and the frankenfood threat and above all runaway consumerism have pushed us closer to dystopian scenarios, we find Huxley and Orwell drawing hordes of readers. Let us take a little time to look back at these three foundational works of a robust literary tradition.

A few weeks ago a certain method of ante-natal care with its roots in ayurveda, championed by the Garbh Vigyan Sanskar project of Arogya Bharati, was in the news for promising the best babies in the world. This drew the criticism it deserves. Critics cited ethical issues and lack of scientific knowledge but the fact remains that genetic engineering has reached a stage where we are only a few decades away from creating so-called designer babies using methods like Easy PGD (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis). Brave New World naturally comes to mind as does Margaret Atwoods works.

It is the year 632 AF (After Ford), Henry Ford having acquired a god-like stature, we are in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre where humans are produced in bottles, and, using various techniques right from the embryonic stage, are predesigned to be intelligent, stupid, morons, hard workers and so on.

The opening chapter sets the tone with powerful descriptions that blend scientific language with evocative use of words. The Director of the London Hatchery, Thomas, is showing some students the facilities for storing bottled embryos which are subjected to various shocks, chemical stimulations and processes that will slot them into lives of Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas or Epsilons the lowest in the caste rank:

And in effect the sultry darkness into which the students now followed him was visible and crimson, like the darkness of closed eyes on a summers afternoon. The bulging flanks of row on receding row and tier above tier of bottles glinted with innumerable rubies, and among the rubies moved the dim red spectres of men and women with purple eyes and all the symptoms of lupus. The hum and rattle of machinery faintly stirred the air.

The story is plotted at one level around the conflicts between the Alpha-plus sleep-learning specialist Bernard Marx and Thomas, the Director. Everyone feels that there is something wrong with Bernards conditioning because he is not reconciled to his destiny of a super-intelligent Alpha like the others. He doesnt enjoy wasteful games like Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy, is averse to promiscuous sex which is the norm, and is not happy with his condition, unlike other citizens of the World State. The Director has warned him a few times, threatening to send him off on exile to Iceland but things havent changed.

At this juncture Bernard and the foetus technician Lenina go on a holiday to the New Mexican reservation of Malpais where, they come across the ageing Linda and her son, the yellow haired John (the Savage), among the villagers. It turns out that John the Savage is the Director Thomas naturally born child. Thomas had abandoned Linda after he lost her in a storm while on a visit to the reservation.

The hard contours of a dystopian society do not yield easily to the literary approach but Brave New World is a master class in how it should be done. With its carefully etched characters, the scintillating wit, a brilliant mix of irony and laughter, and the well-oiled engine of a plot centred on the tensions between Thomas, Bernard and Lenina, this book easily surpasses the other two in literary qualities if not also in the diamond-edge of its satire.

Bernard sees an opportunity to teach the Director a lesson. He brings John and Linda back to London with him where, in a hilarious scene, the Savage, runs and falls on his knees before the Director and a roomful of Hatchery workers:

...John! she called. John!

He came in at once, paused for a moment just inside the door, looked round, then soft on his moccasined feet strode quickly across the room, fell on his knees in front of the Director, and said in a clear voice: My father!

The word (for father was not so much obscene as with its connotation of something at one remove from the loathsomeness and moral obliquity of child-bearing merely gross, a scatological rather than a pornographic impropriety); the comically smutty word relieved what had become a quite intolerable tension. Laughter broke out, enormous, almost hysterical, peal after peal, as though it would never stop. My father and it was the Director! My father! Oh Ford, oh Ford!

John The Savage, who has read only one book in his life The Complete Works of William Shakespeare becomes somewhat of a celebrity; an oddity in fact for his language is peppered with the quotes from the Bard, in Londons elite circles. But he finds the life of this brave new world, quoting from Shakespeares The Tempest, hard to digest, falls in love with Lenina, openly incites rebellion by throwing away soma rations, and finally meets a sad end.

In his Foreword to a new edition of the book written in 1946, Huxley wrote that if he would write the book again he would give the Savage a third option between the primitive Indian reservation of New Mexico and the utopian London. This would be in a place of decentralised economics, human-centric science, cooperation and the pursuit of mans Final End. Such a society he did attempt to portray in his last book, Island, which never climbed the heights of Brave New World.

Orwells novel, unlike Huxleys, foregrounds the harshness of totalitarian rule and the political philosophy that begets such a monster. While the Huxleian dystopia is a sort of soma-infused, predestination-soaked, pseudo-paradise, in Orwells Oceania and Airstrip One (England) deadly torture and surveillance by the Thought Police (which is always on the lookout for thoughtcrime) helps to maintain public order.

There is continuous war among the three world powers, Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia, and rocket bombs fall now and then on London. Big Brother, whose picture is everywhere, rules Oceania with an iron hand where, at the Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith works at revising historical facts.

The ruling political ideology is Ingsoc (English Socialism) and power belongs to Inner Party members (with Big Brother at the top) followed by Outer Party and finally the hapless proles who dont count for much.

Winston begins to keep a diary in his room, away from the gaze of the two way telescreen, where he records the internal restless monologue running through his head, his observations and innermost thoughts. He knows that if this is discovered he will be put to death. Yet he writes on the beautiful creamy paper, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.

The story develops slowly and the beginning drags a bit where the way of life in Airstrip One lived through the characters, the iron hand of the Party, the worship of Hate and the workings of the various ministries are drilled into the readers mind in a mechanical fashion. Perhaps this treatment suits the subject and is meant to echo the heartlessness of the ruling powers and the emptiness of lives, giving the reader a sense of all that is lost in this Orwellian anti-utopia.

Winston falls in love with Julia who works in the Fiction Department, churning out novels and finds a refuge for both of them in a little room above Mr Charringtons antiques shop. In this little shop and the room above it, the old world of beautiful objects seems to be preserved in a time capsule.

It was a heavy lump of glass, curved on one side, flat on the other, making almost a hemisphere. There was a peculiar softness, as of rainwater, in both the colour and the texture of the glass. At the heart of it, magnified by the curved surface, there was a strange, pink, convoluted object that recalled a rose or a sea anemone.

What is it? said Winston, fascinated.

Thats coral, that is, said the old man. It must have come from the Indian Ocean. They used to kind of embed it in the glass. That wasnt made less than a hundred years ago. More, by the look of it.

Its a beautiful thing, said Winston.

It is a beautiful thing, said the other appreciatively. But theres not many thatd say so nowadays.

But soon Winston and Julia are snared by OBrien, an Inner Party member who pretends to belong to the secret Brotherhood conspiring the downfall of the Party. OBrien arranges to send him a forbidden book The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, by Emmanuel Goldstein, which he reads in the apparent safety of the room above Charringtons shop. But soon enough they are arrested.

Torture follows, Winston confesses to real and imaginary crimes and the final defeat comes next when he and Julia betray each other. With this defeat of love it seems there is nothing left to defend anymore. And surely enough, we find a changed Winston in the final pages.

The enduring quality of Orwells novel flows from the lengths he goes to in describing the propaganda machinery, the degree of surveillance, the means of torture, and the dehumanising effects of totalitarianism which includes among other things, children spying on and reporting against their parents and the development of a precise official language called Newspeak, much of which, in various degrees, are to be found in the world today. And once again, all these powers lording over these dystopias concur on one singular aspect they are enemies of freedom. Freedom is Slavery is one of the party slogans of Big Brothers Oceania.

Zamyatins We, like Nineteen Eighty-Four begins with a somewhat flat narration and almost one-dimensional characters which we soon realise is a way to portray how human beings have been reduced to cogs in a wheel and. in this case, just numbers. But here we do have a slightly curious plot to draw our attention.

The narrator, D-503, is the builder of the spaceship Integral, which will carry the message of happiness from the One State to other worlds with the hope of subjugating their inhabitants to the rule of Reason. The book is a collection of records kept by the narrator and is marked by mannerisms and a curious mathematical vocabulary which is an echo of the rule of logic and mathematics that guides the life of the numbers inhabiting the earth and which also establishes the fact that D-503 is a mathematician. This is from a report in the State newspaper and as we have seen in the other works it begins with an attack on freedom and an emphasis on the desirability of happiness:

One thousand years ago, your heroic ancestors subjected the whole earth to the power of the One State. A still more glorious task is before you: the integration of the indefinite equation of the Cosmos by the use of glass, electric, fire-breathing Integral. Your mission is to subjugate to the grateful yoke of reason the unknown beings who live on other planets and who are perhaps still in the primitive state of freedom. If they will not understand that we are bringing them a mathematically-faultless happiness, our duty will be to force them to be happy. But before we take up arms, we shall try the power of words.

In this future state, Guardians, who are the secret police, keep tabs on everyone and crime is punished with torture and execution by The Machine. Sex is rationed with a system of pink slips and, as the story progresses, a female number, O-90 with lovely blue eyes is assigned to D-503. People are allowed to lower the curtains of their transparent apartments only for these assigned hours of physical intimacy.

But soon enough our narrator meets another woman, I-330, whip-like with dazzling white teeth, and gets strongly attracted to her. They have a tryst in his flat where, breaking the rules, they smoke and imbibe a greenish alcoholic drink, probably absinthe.

I-330 invites him to the Ancient House which is at the edge of the Green Wall that surrounds the city of glass. Meanwhile the whip-like woman, who is a secret revolutionary belonging to the MEPHI, impresses upon him to take command of the trial launch of the Integral and land it outside the Green Wall. The plan succeeds but the Guardians have infiltrated their ranks and so they have to return.

The Wall, border, fence, etcetera constitute a standard trope of dystopia, separating the realm of civilisation and happiness from the areas inhabited by primitives, where reason still doesnt have a foothold. Where, often, independence, driven out from dystopia, has found a somewhat comfortable refuge.

Family is another structure that those in power in these anti-utopias hate because it represents what Bertrand Russell in The Scientific Outlook a book which some say might have had an influence on Huxley describes as a loyalty which competes with loyalty to the State. Sure enough, family bonds are tenuous in Nineteen Eighty-Four, where it has become an extension of the Thought Police while in Brave New World and We, the family unit no longer exists.

The rule of logic and mathematics in every sphere of life in Zamyatins novel is echoed in D-503s descriptions I noticed her brows that rose to the temples in an acute angle like the sharp corners of an X, while the growing irrationality within himself is thus recorded, Now I no longer live in our clear, rational world; I live in the ancient nightmare world, the world of square roots of minus one. The square root of minus one as all students of high school maths know is the imaginary number i which in this context would stand for individuality and separateness to be contrasted with the faceless collective We of Zamyatins world.

On the Great day of Unanimity each year, when a farcical election is held to return power to the Well-Doer (Benefactor in future translations), it is suddenly found that many have risen in dissent, refusing to vote for the leader. The MEPHI has spread its roots and a ruthless counter-offensive begins. Large sections of the population, including D-503, are subject to The Operation to remove the centre of fancy from their brains which will turn them into human tractors. In the end, the narrators fate is somewhat similar to Winstons in Nineteen Eighty-Four, while I-330 and others are tortured and sentenced to death.

Zamyatins We is a book that grows upon you as you read it for the first, second or third time. With its mathematical similes, the cold antiseptic settings through which faceless numbers, robbed of imagination and independence, go about fulfilling their duties to the state, always under the shadow of the Well-Doer and his murderous Machine, the book reminds us about all that is precious in our lives, all that is worth fighting for till the last of our breath.

There have been many debates as to who was right about the future Orwell or Huxley? It has been pointed out that with the fall of the Soviet Union the Orwellian world of a totalitarian dictatorship collapsed for ever. But still in corners of the world like North Korea, we find situations that seem to be taken straight out of Nineteen Eighty-Four, just as in Trump-era United States, we find echoes of censorship and control over facts imagined by Orwell.

However, in predicting the course science might take, and in imagining the possibility that humanity would squander away freedom at the altar of desire and consumerism, Huxleys Brave New World stands out as a book more conscious of the pulse of rulers and ruled alike.

In his 1958 book Brave New World Revisited which among other things predicts how thw population explosion will become a strain on the worlds resources, Huxley, comparing his dystopia to Orwells, wrote:

The society described in Nineteen Eighty-Four is a society controlled almost exclusively by punishment and the fear of punishment. In the imaginary world of my own fable, punishment is infrequent and generally mild. The nearly perfect control exercised by the government is achieved by systematic reinforcement of desirable behaviour, by many kinds of nearly non-violent manipulation, both physical and psychological, and by genetic standardisation.

Huxleys insights that non-violent manipulation works far better than terror and that the trivial pleasures of a consumer culture will steal freedom from us are an apt characterisation of our times. Neil Postman beautifully summarises the work of these two authors, when he writes:

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture.

Reading these three books and reflecting on the above words, it wouldnt be a thoughtcrime to believe that we are already swimming breathlessly in the choppy waters of a dystopian present.

Rajat Chaudhuri is a Charles Wallace Trust, Korean Arts Council-InKo and Hawthornden Castle fellow. He has advocated on climate change issues at the United Nations and has recently finished writing his fourth work of fiction about environmental disaster.

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Orwell vs Huxley vs Zamyatin: Who would win a dystopian fiction contest? - Scroll.in

Richard Hirschi's June 14 letter quoted Ayn Rand as if her words were holy writ. Rand disciples should see on Google "Problems with Ayn Rand's philosophy." They'll find several logical fallacies in her position of ethical egoism.

Also, they should consider the current occupant of the White House, a perfect example of egoism run amok. Everything is about him, either for him or against him. He is centered on praise and attention at all times. These are also the characteristics of spoiled kids. Everything is about what they want, and what they hate. If they don't grow up and accept society's norms, they'll be Mr. Trump or Ayn Rand (who was a lot like Trump in her private life).

We who have grown up are not thieves, as Rand claimed, nor are we collectivists, as Hirschi wrote. We own property, stock, businesses, etc. We just want to avoid what happened to Kansas under Gov. Brownback. The state cut taxes for the rich and businesses, forcing steep cuts in funding for public schools, highways, and other needed services (check it online). It didn't improve the economy as promised. It just left the state broke, with a lousy credit rating.

Originally posted here:

Mailbag: The limits of ethical egoism - Albany Democrat Herald

Green Party chairman Arnold Cassola says he has no regrets at ADs decision not to take an easy ride on PN votes

Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Arnold Cassola with deputy chair Carmel Cacopardo

Alternattiva Demokratika, which has been contesting elections since 1992, ended up with just over 0.8% of the popular vote similar to its 2008 outing reaching once again a nadir in popularity.

As expected, the result was a bad one, said Prof. Arnold Cassola, whose party refused to take the cue of former Labour MPs Marlene Farrugia Democratic Party to contest on the PN ticket. Farrugia could now be in line for a seat in parliament after amassing over 3,000 votes on the tenth district, a PN stronghold.

Expected, because we decided to stand up for our principles and values before our personal egoism, that is, the easy way of riding on the PNs votes and trying to get into parliament with their number ones and inherited votes.

Cassola said that his partys principles had come at the cost of a social media barrage of name-calling and insults, saying he had been punished by being called barri (bull), muqran (cuckold), Judas and traitor.

But worse than that, for being principled we were demonised by the PN party machine that encouraged its supporters to close ranks and to avoid casting any preference votes for our candidates, Cassola added.

At one point, The Malta Independents own editor Stephen Calleja wrote that voting for AD, which has only ever commanded a maximum of over 5,000 votes in its history, would be a vote for Labour.

With hindsight, am I sorry that AD did not join the supposed coalition and that at the moment I am not in the running for a seat in parliament, on a par with craftier politicians than us? The answer is absolutely not.

On the contrary I am even more convinced that we did the right thing by not pandering to hunters, to the Armier shantytown owners, to the Gozo tunnel aficionados in order to get votes, but stood strong sticking to our values.

Cassola said AD had lost 3,000 votes from the last election, when the party was chaired by Michael Briguglio, who in this election took a stand in favour of the Forza Nazzjonali coalition between the PN and PD, and publicly lent his face to the effort.

Being the Chair of AD, the major responsibility for this loss is obviously mine. In the following weeks AD will have to take stock of the situation and chart the way forward for the future. But your precious 2,500 and over number one votes cast for AD make us proud. We know that out there, there are Maltese people who appreciate politicians standing up for ones principles and looking at politics not just as an opportunistic way of getting a seat in parliament, Cassola said.

The academic did not suggest he would resign, although he had already resigned after the 2008 election before taking up the position again after the resignation of fellow academic Michael Briguglio in 2013.

Indeed, Cassola might have attempted a slight dig at his predecessor, even if not mentioned by name. We are of course wounded but certainly not dead, as someone in the Maltese intelligentsia might have wished.

Your precious support gives me the strength to continue looking Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in the eye and to remind him that if he does not kick out Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri and Brian Tonna out of Castille, if he does not immediately convene a Constitutional convention to reform our comatose institutions, then he is leading our country into a sure future of moral and ethical decline With your help, AD can continue to be a leading beacon of honesty, consistency and credibility in Maltese politics.

More here:

'Wounded but not dead' Cassola says AD right in not joini... - MaltaToday

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These people are judged and put down in harsh ways, most frequently these stars are doing simple things that the average person would do.Is it so abnormal for a young woman in her twenties to drink. The legal drinking age is twenty-one. Is it so bad that people lose control of things occasionally under stress.... [tags: pop culture, egoism, relativism] :: 14 Works Cited 1650 words (4.7 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] The Ethical Treatment of Prisoners - A Utilitarian View of Prison Labor & Behavioral Impact of Prisoners INTRODUCTION The ethical theory of utilitarianism and the perspective on relativism, of prison labor along with the relativism on criminal behavior of individuals incarcerated are two issues that need to be addressed. Does the utilitarianism of prisoners right laws actually protect them. Or are the unethical actions of the international and states right laws exploiting the prison labor. Unethical procedures that impact incarcerated individuals and correctional staff, the relativism of respect as people and not just prisoners; the safety of all inmates and correctional staff, are all issues worth continuous reflection.... [tags: Criminal Justice] :: 1 Works Cited 2597 words (7.4 pages) Term Papers [preview] The Relativity of Ethical Issues - Nowadays moral ethics are considered relative. Relative to culture, relative to the needs of a person, relative to circumstances and relative to what one assumes is right or wrong. Everyone has a different perspective on what is true; a person might believe that x is true while another may not. The same concept applies to ethics, one person might say killing animals for food is correct and another might say it is incorrect as we can survive on natural food. So each person has a different estimation on making truth claims about ethics, the opinion depends on what is right or wrong and what is ethical and what is not.... [tags: Morality/Ethics] 1278 words (3.7 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Ethical Decisions in Business - Throughout the ages businesses have developed through technological advancements and innovative ideas but there has always been a common struggle that they are faced with, ethical decisions. Everywhere we look there is some level of ethical deterioration (Norman V. Peale, 1988), immoral millions made through inside trading information, a day hardly passes without the head of some major organisation who has been involved in some aspect of an ethical dilemma. This essay will break down why businesses struggle with ethical decisions but before examining such a sensitive issue we must understand what an ethical decision really is.... [tags: business, ethics] :: 13 Works Cited 2254 words (6.4 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Personal Ethical Development - Personal Ethical Development Given the almost collapse of the very foundation of the financial industry in the United States which then rapidly metastasized to a financial and economic crisis with global proportions, ethics and ethical behaviours in doing business and the lack of it was one of the major factors why the mortgage meltdown happened. Thus, it is even more necessary now that organizations focus on the personal ethical developments of all of its individual members. This paper aims to explore the developmental aspect of one's ethics including the importance of ethics and ethical systems.... [tags: Ethics] :: 6 Works Cited 1140 words (3.3 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Varying Global Ethical Standards in Business - When in Rome, Do As The Romans Do. This proverb is generally accepted by many people all around the world. Should this idea of cultural relativism be applied in the formation of ethical standards of international business. Or, there is a single list of truths that require exactly the same behavior across the different cultures, as the theory of ethical imperialism claim. (Donaldson, P. 477) Here I am presenting some cases related to core business activities and business relationship between various stakeholders and their expectations in different cultures (especially united states, India, and Nepal).... [tags: International, Culture, Commandments] :: 1 Works Cited 2028 words (5.8 pages) Term Papers [preview] Evaluating Ethical Decisions and Defining a Universal Standard of Good - Evaluating Ethical Decisions and Defining a Universal Standard of Good It is difficult to provide a concrete definition for the word right. Right can mean many different things in different situations. For example, the right answer to one plus one is two. Yet, doing the right thing isnt a simple answer like the previous example. In determining the difference between right and wrong, the pursuit of making an ethical decision is born. There are many concepts of right and wrong. Despite the number of concepts of right and wrong, there is a foundation that can be used to guide ethical decision making.... [tags: Morality/Ethics] :: 2 Works Cited 1468 words (4.2 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] The Ethical Continuum - The Ethical Continuum An April 2002 ethics survey conducted by Zogby International included the question, which of the following statements about ethics was most often transmitted by your professors, but it provided only two answer choices: a general definition of absolutism and a specific definition of relativism.1 The pollsters, along with many who contemplate the issue, commit a false dichotomy and blind themselves by seeing relativism and absolutism as black and white. Contrary to the beliefs of moral nihilists and Kantians, ethics need not be ruled by extreme definitions of relativism or absolutism.... [tags: Essays Papers] :: 19 Works Cited 1624 words (4.6 pages) Strong Essays [preview] A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of my Afghanistan by Nelofer Pasira - According to Taylor culture is defined as a complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs ,arts ,morals ,laws and customs and any other capabilities acquired by man as members of the society. Anthropologists like Hertzkorits define it as a man-made part of the environment. Kluckhon and Kelly define culture as all that is historically created design for living explicitly and implicitly, rational and irrational which exists at any given time as potential behavior of man. The first meaning presents culture as an idea and a realm of observable phenomena of things and events out there in the world.... [tags: Culture Relativism, Ethnocentrism] :: 1 Works Cited 1102 words (3.1 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Ethical Philosophies and the Hippocratic Physician - Ethical Philosophies and the Hippocratic Physician Twenty four centuries ago, Hippocrates created the profession of medicine, for the first time in human history separating and refining the art of healing from primitive superstitions and religious rituals. His famous Oath forged medicine into what the Greeks called a technik, a craft requiring the entire person of the craftsman, an art that, according to Socrates in his dialogue Gorgias, involved virtue in the soul and spirit as well as the hands and brain.... [tags: Philosophy Medicine] :: 7 Works Cited 1785 words (5.1 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Womens Equality in Ethical Theory and Perspective - Society has long since considered women the lessor gender and one of the most highly debated topics in society through the years has been that of womens equality. The debates began over the meaning between a man and womans morality and a womans rights and obligations in society. After the 19th Amendment was sanctioned around 1920, the ball started rolling on womens suffrage. Modern times have brought about the union of these causes, but due to the differences between the genetic makeup and socio demographics, the battle over womens equality issue still continues to exist.... [tags: utilitarian, deontological theories] :: 14 Works Cited 2226 words (6.4 pages) Term Papers [preview] Defining Right: Using Ethical Framework to Define the Term Right - Defining Right The topic of morality and what is right or wrong is a deeply complex and profound subject. There is not a basic rule as there is in physics; there is no Newtons law of motion and conservation of mass to base all theories upon. The shape of right and wrong must be modeled after the morals and values of the given culture, using the moral compass as a guide. There are frame works such as utilitarianism and deontological that pose questions that help use analyze the find the right thing to do.... [tags: Ethics ] :: 4 Works Cited 1168 words (3.3 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Ethical Philosophy - Virtues with intention centering on moral fiber is characteristically viewed as disposition to conduct ones self in customs which render the weak in aggressive circumstances. For example, a truthful individual is inclined to telling the truth upon requested. These dispositions are characteristically looked upon as comparatively steady and elongated. Further, they are also typically understood to be robust consistent across a wide-spectrum of conditions. We are unlikely, for example, to think that an individual who tells the truth to her friends but consistently lies to her parents and teachers possesses the virtue of honesty.... [tags: Ethics] 986 words (2.8 pages) Strong Essays [preview] My Meta-ethical Position - My Meta-ethical Position When asked the question "Are there any ethical truths?" I respond with a resounding "Yes" and when asked "What makes the ethical truths true?" I respond "Facts independent of anyone's say-so". That makes me an ethical realist. I reject all forms of conventionalism and also subjectivism. There are three different forms of conventionalism, the first is Divine Command Theory which says thing are right or wrong based solely on God's say-so. While I do believe in God I reject that ethical view because who is to say what God says are believes is right or wrong.... [tags: Papers] 418 words (1.2 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Ethical Perspectives - Ethical Perspectives Introduction Ethics involves identifying, differentiating, and defending concepts of right and wrong, and what values humanity retains from ethical growth and development. The Williams Group for Ethics and Management developed an exercise, called the Ethics Awareness Inventory, which analyzes responses to a set of questions, and categorizes the results under four ethical perspectives: Character (or Virtue Ethics), Obligation (or Deontological Ethics), Results (or Utilitarianism), and Equity (or Relativism).... [tags: Ethics Morals] 1285 words (3.7 pages) Good Essays [preview] The Ethical Goodness or Badness about an Action - The Ethical Goodness or Badness about an Action To make a statement on the ethical goodness or badness about some action can be neither true nor false due to the fact that this statement is merely an opinion of mine and not actually based on facts. This opinion is an extension of my expression that this action performed is wrong. I can express my opinion in many different ways such as body language or speech but none of these will make the opinion I have, or in this case the statement I make, true or false.... [tags: Papers] 649 words (1.9 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Discussing Ethical Judgments in the Production of Knowledge in Both Arts and Sciences - Ethical judgements limit the methods available in the production of knowledge in both the arts and the natural sciences. Discuss. To a certain degree, ethics can be considered a matter of ones heart, the source of emotional life, as well as their head, the center of a human beings faculty of intellect and reasoning. Ethics, or moral philosophy, is a set of ideas that are systemized, defended, recommended in differentiating behaviour as either right or wrong prescribed by social and cultural taboos.... [tags: ethics vs production of knowledge] :: 13 Works Cited 2508 words (7.2 pages) Research Papers [preview] Compare and Contrast 7 of the Main Ethical Principles - Despite the implementation of a certain code of conduct and belief system into most individual's everyday lives, the concept of ethics or moral philosophy remains a hazy area, left to be tackled by philosophers and exceptional theorists. The assessment of major ethical systems over the course of the semester has forced me to reevaluate the fundamentals of my own moral philosophy and reconsider the role of ethics as a more average field of thought than I had once considered. Included in the major ethical systems examined throughout the course were: Cultural Relativism, Religious Ethics, Ethical Egoism, Utilitarianism, Kant's Moral Absolutism, Social Contract, and Ethics of Virtue.... [tags: Ethics] :: 2 Works Cited 4242 words (12.1 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Ethical and Philosophical Questions about Value and Obligation - Ethical and Philosophical Questions about Value and Obligation I Recall the distinction between metaethics and normative ethics. Normative ethics deals with substantial ethical issues, such as, What is intrinsically good. What are our moral obligations. Metaethics deals with philosophical issues about ethics: What is value or moral obligation. Are there ethical facts. What sort of objectivity is possible in ethics. How can we have ethical knowledge. Recall, also, the fundamental dilemma of metaethics.... [tags: Metaethics Normative Ethics] 971 words (2.8 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Human Being Existence - Since long before Plato philosophers have attempted to accurately describe the ways human being exist in relation to the world around them. Many different systems and meta-narratives were created by numerous philosophers as they used reason to determine what it meant to exist and how knowledge was possible. Most philosophers were acutely aware their philosophical arguments that provided either metaphysical or epistemological descriptive claims would necessarily lay the foundation for normative ethical positions.... [tags: existence, ethical system, Plato, Nietzsche, ] 1293 words (3.7 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Personal Ethical System - ... In return, they formulate moral guidelines that are later termed as absolute truths in strong opposition of the Western Worlds ideologies. This has seen the emergence of radical religious affiliations, which is justified by subjective application and interpretation of moral theories (Barnosell, 2012; Iqbal, Bhatti, & Zaheer, 2013). The number of suicide bombers and radical Muslims engaging in terrorist activities has increased in recent years (Zarakol, 2011). My personal code of ethics negates subjective application of these theories and the disjoint implications emerging from fallacious ideologies propelled by a section of religious leaders.... [tags: utilitarianism, phylosophy, moral principles] :: 11 Works Cited 1286 words (3.7 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Examining Moral Philosophies Functions in Business - The Moral Philosophies Functions in Business Usually the conversation about philosophy in society is centered on the universal structure of values as part of their lives. Conversely moral philosophy relates to certain ideologies or statutes which are used by societies in determining right or wrong. It is imperative to comprehend there is a difference between moral philosophies and business ethics. The moral philosophies pertain to individuals values, whereas business ethics is centered on groups decisions or relate to meeting a business objective.... [tags: values, ethics, belief, utilitarianism, relativist] :: 5 Works Cited 1251 words (3.6 pages) Strong Essays [preview] The Idea of Relativist and Absolutist - A person, no matter where they live or what kind of history they have, always has and always will come across someone who does not believe the same way that they do. This is plainly seen in Phil Washburns Philosophical Dilemmas and as a result the main source of information will stem from this text concerning morals. Philosophers are most known for their work of arguing about morals and what is wrong or right however, what laymen do not understand is that they do not focus on the question of moral but rather whether or not the judgment of the morals of others is right or wrong.... [tags: sophists, moral relativism, philosophical dilemma] :: 2 Works Cited 1946 words (5.6 pages) Term Papers [preview] Utilitarianism - The United States flag stands to the world as a signal of freedom and most importantly choice. The constitution gives our citizens that right to choose how to live life, how to use our liberty, and how to pursue our own happiness. But what happens when a citizen decides to opt for no life. Is that not a choice. This is the argument for one of the most controversial questions of the past decade, should assisted suicide be deemed legal in the United States. The root of the controversy is the involvement of medical community in such a choice.... [tags: Ethical Issues, Physician Assisted Suicide] 3159 words (9 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Ethical Standards in Research - Concern for risks involved in the research and the participants involved in the study is a duty of the researcher (Lindorff, 2010). Topics that an ethical researcher should consider are justice, beneficence and respect for persons (Lindorff, 2010, p. 53). Justice refers to fairness in selection of participants and the time required by participants. Justice relates to protecting participants but also benefiting the public, not just certain entities. There are concerns regarding non-medical research and the benefactors from the results obtained.... [tags: Ethical Research] :: 11 Works Cited 2831 words (8.1 pages) Research Papers [preview] Ethical Judgement and the Production of Knowledge - Ethical judgment is not a definite restriction for the method and production of knowledge in art field, but it does relatively limit the production of knowledge in the natural science fields. Since the ethical judgment is an authority in a majority of peoples notion and mind, people tend to follow ethical standards and harder to develop the further knowledge. In addition, reason is one of the ways of knowing and moral principle is a crucial factor that shapes the pursuit of knowledge. The extreme cases in the natural science and in distinctive areas of knowledge violate the reason that undermines the moral obligation.... [tags: Essays on Ethical Judgement] :: 5 Works Cited 994 words (2.8 pages) Better Essays [preview] The Ethical Egoist in Plato's Republic - The ethical egoist is one who believes that it is morally right to act strictly in one's own self-interest. Understandably, this belief poses a threat to social cooperation and, therefore, clearly introduces a significant political problem. I believe that the best example of ethical egoism is displayed in Book I of Plato's The Republic. In this Book, Plato introduces the idea of ethical egoism, explains the political problem posed by it, and addresses the problem through the words of Socrates. I will use this paper to explain and clarify the arguments for and against the concept of ethical egoism, with specific focus on the political problem it poses and the proper approach to addressing th... [tags: politics, ethical egoism, socrates] :: 1 Works Cited 984 words (2.8 pages) Better Essays [preview] The Importance of Ethical Integrity - What is ethical integrity and why is it important. This paper will address the viewpoint of ethical integrity and its outcome. Ethical Integrity is a favorably sensible method for doing what is right when it comes to people dealing with people. In todays society, ethical integrity has become a modern lifestyle. When a person has a strong moral character, they are said to be a person of integrity and to live a honest life is said to be the most important virtue a person can have. Consistency is a concept of ethical integrity and people should act according to their moral principles.... [tags: Ethical Integrity Essays] :: 4 Works Cited 1606 words (4.6 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Hypothetical Treatment of Ethical Dilemma - This paper is an analysis of a hypothetical vignette in which a counselor-in-training named Callie, a fairly experienced and nearly-licensed counselor supervisee, approaches her counselor supervisor for advice and direction regarding an ethical dilemma. The purpose of this paper is to identify the ethical and legal implications of the dilemma along with an optimal solution to ethically resolve the issue. Using the Forrester-Miller and Davis Decision Making Model Ethical dilemmas are situations that are difficult to navigate and include making a difficult choice.... [tags: Doctoral Student Ethical Scenario] :: 6 Works Cited 1698 words (4.9 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Business Ethics and Ethical Leadership - 1. Seminar 4 required us to debate on the following title This Business School believes that ethical leadership is impossible in a shareholder focused economy through the view of four characters. Mike, a non-consequentialist deontologist in the 5th stage of Kohlbergs (SoCMD) (Figure 1.) argued that ethical behaviour of corporations should be set in a top-bottom structure and that ethical leadership should be reflected in this manner through respecting the governance code and corporate ethics.... [tags: business ethics, ethical leadership, ethics] :: 18 Works Cited 1407 words (4 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Ethical Consumerism: A Balance of Knowledge and Action - Shelves in many shopping malls are lined with a vast, colorful variety of merchandise. Rows of curious items catch ones attention upon entering a sterile-smelling shop, each piece specifically crafted to be sold and taken home. Compared to this consumer-happy paradise, the world in which the worker lives, who fashions these objects, is usually little more than torture. Take, for example, child labor in India. These child laborers work for little pay and in harsh conditions, to generate products for American consumers to buy.... [tags: Ethical Consumer Habits, Shopping] 1188 words (3.4 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Ethical and Moral Philosophies: Application to Business - Define and Discuss Philosophies Application to Business Business philosophy refers to application of theoretic framework to determine the manner in which a business entity deals with various forms of operation. It refers to formation and operation of a corporate entity in areas that include management, accounting, public relations, business operations, marketing, and training (Dahlsrud, 2008). Moral philosophy, on the other hand, refers to values that determine the rightness or wrongness of an action (Bartels, 2008).... [tags: Ethical and Moral Philosophies] :: 4 Works Cited 1226 words (3.5 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Ethical Integrity While Writing a Dissertation - Executing the actual research of a dissertation is a process that can pose many ethical violations such as fabricating data, falsifying data, or plagiarizing (Committee, 2009). In addition, Committee (2009) stated that in order to execute research the research must know how to handle data. For my research, I will be discreet about handling data and open in communication with my participants, by issuing informed consent forms to all of my participants and requiring signatures to continue before any research is conducted.... [tags: Ethical Integrity in Research] :: 9 Works Cited 1470 words (4.2 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Patriotism: Changin Moral and Ethical Values - Patriotism is not blindly following ones country as some politicians think. Patriotism is working to ensure our country lives up to our collective moral and ethical values both at home and abroad, as well as being critical of our country when it does not live up to those standards. Patriotism as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary is The quality of being patriotic; love of or devotion to one's country (Patriotism). That is it. It does not say you have to take any specific action like flying the flag, serve in any function such as the armed forces, or support any particular party for election.... [tags: ethical values, espionage act] :: 1 Works Cited 889 words (2.5 pages) Better Essays [preview] Profilling Ethical Leadership - Leaders are considered as people who generally implement ethical programs in order to influence an organizations climate (Yukl, 2010). To any organizations, leadership plays an important role to empower another people to follow them. Therefore, ethical leadership can be defined as the process of impacting people through rules, principles, beliefs and values. I recognized that every leaders tend to have a highly ethical in their business practices. Ethical leadership will help leaders to lead their employees as legitimate.... [tags: Implement Ethical Programs, Oganizations] :: 3 Works Cited 1182 words (3.4 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Legal and Ethical Issues in School Counseling - The topic of this paper focuses on the battles school counselors face as the law and ethical standards collide. School counselors face a number of legal and ethical issues and recognizing a clear decision isnt always easy. School counselors have to work with a large number of students, parents, and administrators while conforming to ethical codes, state laws, and school board guidelines. This topic is of great relevance to me as I will be going into the school counseling profession. It is also a meaningful topic to me because life-changing decisions are made every day in reference to legal and ethical issues.... [tags: School Counselor, Lae, Ethical Standards] :: 6 Works Cited 1387 words (4 pages) Strong Essays [preview] The Development Of Epistemic Relativism Versus Social Relativism - What if everything all of us, the world, the universe was not real. What if everything we are, know, and do was really just someone's computer simulation. Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. Relativism is the concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity, having only relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and consideration. Epistemic relativism is when the facts used to establish the truth or falsehood of any statement are understood to be relative to the perspective of those proving or falsifying the proposition.... [tags: the matrix, dream world, computers] :: 6 Works Cited 1293 words (3.7 pages) Strong Essays [preview] School Counseling: A Case Study in Ethical Decision Making - Whilst working in a remote area I observed a year nine indigenous student (Lorena Bannard) and a teacher (Bill James), alone together after school hours. I considered this could be an unprofessional situation. I spoke to Bill later regarding the situation and he replied, Im helping her with some family problems, and Im concerned about the effect its having on her school work. I suggested he refer Lorena to the Guidance Officer. During the initial interview with Lorena, I explained what was talked about in the interview was confidential, unless an unlawful act or event occurred, or if someone could be harmed.... [tags: School Counselors, Ethical Decisions] :: 39 Works Cited 2456 words (7 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Moral Relativism Throughout History - Morality, it seems, can only be obtained through subjective reasoning. Ones ability to perceive morality is derived from either a tacit, oral, or written agreement that is developed by ones community or ethnos for members of that community or ethnos to abide by. The values of an ethnos may change over a period of time, but the fundamental aspect of the idea being specific to those of the ethnos and not being ubiquitous remains. These sentences express what are the basic tenants of moral relativism.... [tags: Racial Inequality, Nazis, Apartheid, America] :: 7 Works Cited 2305 words (6.6 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Lehman Brother Holding Inc. Ethical Research - Building standards of ethical behavior is essential for public company. Otherwise, it causes accounting scandals and bankrupts. Over the last decade, there were a lot of enormous bankrupts that because of unethical behavior of investors and auditors. Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. is an example of accounting scandals. In this research paper, I am going to analyze this firm. Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. was a financial services firm and fourth-largest investment bank in the Unite Sates. It provided investment service for the clients and it founded in 1850.It mainly operated on trading sales, private banking, investment bank and investment management.... [tags: investment management, bankrupts, ethical behavior] :: 12 Works Cited 925 words (2.6 pages) Better Essays [preview] Ethical Dilemmas Faced by Nurses and Other Healthcare Professionals - The role of ethics in organizational behavior is the underlying factor to the success and longevity of any organization. A set of rules and guidelines focusing on promoting safety, trust, and responsible practice within the workplace must be established internally. Organizations develop code of ethics that center upon the promotion of good. Ethics are vital in developing trusting relationships between employees and administration within. A code of ethics highlights the responsibility and accountability standards of each and every employee within the organization.... [tags: Nursing Ethics, ethical principle, code of ethics] :: 15 Works Cited 2770 words (7.9 pages) Research Papers [preview] The Ethical Treatment of Animals - I believe in the ethical treatment for all animals is an ethical obligation by all humans. We have come to an era that we believe that all humans should be treated equally and fairly. Well, what about our other living, breathing counterparts. They deserve to live their life as they choose in quality and in the pursuit of happiness. Just as Europeans came and took over Northern America's land and resources on the Indians. We have also taken over the land and resources from all of the animals. The moral point of view in the killing of animals for food as an indulgence which is not a necessity for our diet is killing another living being.... [tags: Ethical Issues Analysis] :: 2 Works Cited 542 words (1.5 pages) Good Essays [preview] Moral Relativism - Moral relativism, as Harman describes, denies that there are universal basic moral demands, and says different people are subject to different basic moral demands depending on the social customs, practices, conventions, and principles that they accept (Harman, p. 85). Many suppose that moral feelings derive from sympathy and concern for others, but Harman rather believes that morality derives from agreement among people of varying powers and resources provides a more plausible explanation (Harman, p.... [tags: Philosophy ] :: 4 Works Cited 1958 words (5.6 pages) Term Papers [preview] Cultural Relativism - If we look at the world today, there are millions of cultures centered everywhere. With this much cultures in the world, everyone is bound to believe that theyre all different. Even though they are different in some aspects, all of them are similar to each other in some way. So if this is the case, do we as human beings have the right to judge these cultures as ethically wrong or just a cultural difference. Cultural Relativism is the belief that we cannot judge the cultural practices of other societies and that we should let them do as they please.... [tags: Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart] 1527 words (4.4 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Methods of Experimentation and Research in the Natural Sciences that are Limited due to Ethical Considerations - The production of knowledge, the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject (New Oxford), has constantly been accomplished throughout the history of man as a result of the characteristics of creativity and curiosity. These attributes, besides ethics, have set humans apart from the other species allowing for constant and rapid development. According to (Rest), an ethical judgment is the process by which an individual determines that one alternative is morally right and another alternative is morally wrong.... [tags: eugenics, animal testing, ethical judgement] :: 8 Works Cited 1459 words (4.2 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Moral Relativism and Problems Associated With this Philosophy - Moral relativists believe that no one has the right to judge another individuals choice, decisions, or lifestyle because however they choose to live is right for them. In addition everyone has the right to their own moral beliefs and to impose those beliefs on another individual is wrong. At first glance moral relativism may appear ideal in allowing for individual freedom. After all why shouldnt each individual be entitled to their own idea of moral values and why should others force their beliefs on anyone else.... [tags: philosophy] 824 words (2.4 pages) Better Essays [preview] Normative Ethics: Society Determines What Moral and Ethical Act or Action is Correct and Acceptable - Normative ethics are those ethical principles and values that are considered morally correct and express principles of good character, actions that are viewed as right rather than wrong and are commonly accepted and reasonable. The prompt in this assignment refers to the requirement of the existence of normative requiring the practice of normative ethics in how individuals and society determine what moral and ethical act or action is correct and acceptable. Normative ethics embraces the philosophical theory of a normal sense of morals and principles that would be proper and acknowledged as positive and good.... [tags: ethical principles. morality, morals] 1453 words (4.2 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Is it Ethical? - From a young age, individuals learn about what is right and what is wrong. According to Sandra Crosser, Ph.D., many young children do not have a clear understanding of right and wrong. As children grow, their views on the world develop. Many will argue that children gain their morals from their parents; others say that children get their morals from the people that they interact with. The development of morals is a topic of controversy in both the scientific and philosophical/ethical communities.... [tags: individuals, children, morals] :: 5 Works Cited 1467 words (4.2 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Physician Assisted Suicide is NOT Ethical - Is physician assisted suicide morally right. This has been a controversial subject for some time now. People are wondering whether or not it is the most humane thing to do. If dogs can be putdown, why not people. The reason is in that question. They are people. Every life is important, no matter how long it may be. Instead of finding a way to get rid of people faster, the government could put those efforts in something more positive. If other people are considering whether or not the patients life is valuable, the patient could question it as well.... [tags: ethical issues, euthanasia ] :: 8 Works Cited 1363 words (3.9 pages) Strong Essays [preview] The Philosophic Underpinnings of Relativism - "The way things appear to me, in that way they exist for me; and the way things appear to you, in that way they exist for you"(Theaetetus 152a). This statement was one of the first statements of relativism made that was clear, and it was quoted by Plato. Relativism faces many people with the questioning of if reality exists independently, or if it's individuals and societies creating their own by representing it differently. There are three types of relativism and they each have their extreme forms.... [tags: Philosophy] 818 words (2.3 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Culture Relativism - Culture Relativism Culture Relativism is a contradictory theory for the explanation of the way we ought to live because the roots of the theory dont give any explanation for what is right and wrong but instead only a means for right and wrong to be judged. By no fathom of the imagination can one contend that his or her own self ideas are correct there are certain bias that come with all judgments on the correct way to live, but if culture relativism stood true than it must be able to give some sort of universal truth.... [tags: Papers] 584 words (1.7 pages) Good Essays [preview] Social Contract Theory and Cultural Relativism - Thomas Hobbess social contract theory is minimally related to that of cultural relativism. Both deal with human nature and the search for peace. But while cultural relativism is in some ways a noteworthy theory, the social contract theory is the only one of the two that could logically work in an active environment. Cultural relativism theorizes that the best way for different societies to function together at peace is for them to recognize that each culture must be allowed its own system of beliefs.... [tags: Sociology Essays 2014] :: 2 Works Cited 2200 words (6.3 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] What Determines Right & Wrong? - How do you determine what is right or what is wrong. Personally, I feel that from within ourselves, we know when we have done right and when we have done wrong. This may not stop someone from doing wrong, but, within themselves, I believe that they know they are doing wrong. I believe that someone knows when they have hurt someone else feelings or caused harm to someone. Consequently, I do not make up a culture, which has merits on determining right or wrong. 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Illustration: Living together in differences. (Special)

JAKARTA, NETRALNEWS.COM - Diversity on this planet Earth is already a necessity. Diversity is also actually the most beautiful gift of the Creator. So denying diversity is silliness.

The diversity is not only in humans with all the aspects that surround it, such as social, economic, political, cultural, religious and so on, but also in biodiversity: the flora and fauna.

For humans, in particular, there are not only men and women, but there are also thousands of tribes, languages, skin colors, and so on. And all of it was created by the divine greatness, not because we asked for it.

Reconstruction of Differences

The presence of a person or something can only be accepted with gratitude. Behind the gratitude, there is also a sense of responsibility to maintain it. Different religions as well as different tribes must be accepted and cared for, mutually nurturing and mutually developing them.

It is strange that the pluralist reality is not accepted for mutual enrichment, but instead serves as a source of prejudice that leads to the birth of various kinds of conflict. Tragically, the conflict often runs at a fairly high frequency and gets some sort of justification as a necessity. In fact, the conflict is actually due to a conflict of interest due to personal egoism.

Then, what must be done is to reconstruct diversity or pluralism in a more appropriate framework of understanding. It needs to be continuously conscious with theological or religious approaches, that diversity must be accepted for mutual care, mutual respect and mutual growth.

By mutual acceptance and mutual respect, everything in that difference can progress toward a better stage of life.

That is the moral and ethical foundation in living life on this planet earth. It is actually a common commitment in our being Indonesians, when it is liberated and established. The ideals with the fighters against the invaders are to build a just and prosperous life together.

Learning to Live in a Difference

There is, therefore, no other smoother path and a more beautiful way of life, in addition to continuing to learn to accept the differences and to unceasingly bring togetherness in the distinction. We learn tolerance, mutual respect and mutual respect, aka accept each other deficiencies and advantages.

Likewise the right hand should receive the left hand, although the left hand feels less functioning because it cannot write, or because of rheumatic attack or stroke. Or, the left eye is smaller than the right eye, but they must accept each other and help each other to more clearly see the desired object.

That is, as great as any medical science and sophisticated whatever medical technology, under the microscope we still cannot distinguish blood from which tribe, what religion, sex and so forth, because all of it is God's creation.

The rest, cultural or ethnic prowess and any proud superiority of religiosity of any ethnic or religious entity will be useless if there is no sincerity and desire of each entity to learn to behave appropriately in difference.

This means what is needed is the seriousness and sincerity to continue learning to be a pluralist or diverse citizens. That's where intelligence in living together. Or, says a pluralist Chung Hyung, that pluralism is the most enlightened position when dealing with other entities in difference.

But, above all, there is one thing in the author's mind, about why we are at odds with each other, or why we are still difficult to live together in differences? Below is a snippet of phrase from Gus Mus (KH.A. Mustofa Bisri) that can be a common musing.

Atheist is despised for being godless

Theist is despised because of different gods

Same god is despised because of different prophets

Same prophet is despised because of different religious schools

Same religious schools are despised because of different party

Same party is despised because of different opinions.

Do you want to live alone on the Earth to satisfy the lust of greed?

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Why Is It Difficult to Live Together in Differences? (A Reflection) - Netralnews

Considerations for Planning Humanitarian Operations in Hybrid Warfare

Scott A. Porter

Andrew F. Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, stated in his February 18, 2016, article in the Wall Street Journal, that the Army's biggest problem is its declining ability to wage the kind of protracted irregular wars that America's enemies increasingly prefer to fight. 1 Even Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 3-0, Unified Land Operations (2011) states the most likely security threats that Army forces will encounter will be within an irregular warfare environment that includes hybrid forces; a mix of regular, irregular, criminal, and terrorist forces in various combinations, usually seeking to fight a protracted war in populated areas. 2

Therefore, it is apparent that the United States military must be capable of operating within an irregular war against hybrid forces, including in support of large-scale humanitarian operations to relieve suffering and prevent more refugee crises. This is important for three reasons; mass migrations of populations and their potential impact on national security, the ethical considerations in the planning of humanitarian operations, and the necessity for the government and military to be proactive in complex emergencies.

Migration as a Weapon

Syria stands out as a current example of hybrid warfare (HW). 3 The war has caused over half of the prewar population to displace with over five million Syrians fleeing their country (Washington Post). 4 The magnitude of the Syrian mass exodus has strained the ability of those countries who care for and feed them, and has brought to light significant security concerns for Europe and the United States. 5

Because of a multiplicity of hostile forces in HW, a chaotic environment ensues whereby the innocents suffer the most. Any war zone is a dangerous environment to civilians, but in HW the side that controls populations and holds decisive terrain, often large cities, has a significant advantage. 6 Occupying hostile forces often intentionally deny food, shelter, and medical aid to the population. Even worse, as in the Syria example, hostile forces more often than not possess an unsympathetic attitude toward the local population by committing atrocities or sadistically forcing a political or ideological agenda upon them. They intentionally terrify the population, causing wide-spread displacement within the area, and eventually contribute to massive refugee movements out of the entire region. 7

Conventional forces can also add to the chaos. General Philip Breedlove, Commander of the U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander for NATO, asserts that in Syria the Russia and Syrian forces are using migration as a weapon. These large population movements are deliberately planned to mask the movement of criminals, terrorists, and foreign fighters. Just as importantly, they cause the other countries to react to massive immigration populations. The result is a humanitarian crisis like we have seen coming out of Syria. Dozens of countries, mostly in Turkey and Europe, are desperately trying to establish policies, procedures, and make-shift programs to house, feed, and care for millions of refugees. As a result, these massive movements of people have created national security concerns throughout much of the world, including in the U.S. 8

Ethical Considerations

There is also an ethical dimension to the plight of refugees, and there exist strong differences of opinion about refugee movements. The New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch, in reference to the Syrian refugee crisis, stated Forcing people to remain in a war zone, where they risk death and injury, is no solution to the challenge of protecting Syrians fleeing their county. 9 On February 9, 2016, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees cited international law, in that countries should admit all civilians who are fleeing danger and seeking international protection. 10 To complicate the problem, protecting the fleeing Syrians may be helping the hostile forces that made them flee. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu recently told reporters that with every refugee that we accept, in a way, we would be contributing to this ethnic cleansing aim. If this is a strategy to change the demography in Syria, then we all have to be vigilant against it. 11

These aforementioned points bring to light the crux of humanitarian aid in hybrid war, the need to align strategic objectives and execute actions that provide the best outcome or consequences for the pre-determined end state. Consequentialism, the most common form of ethics in the contemporary Western world, focuses on the end state. Within consequentialism are two basic forms, egoism and utilitarianism. Egoism concerns achieving self-interests as being the most favored outcome. 12

The utilitarian approach considers the best course of action as the one that promotes the best consequences for the most people. 13 From the U.S. strategic planning perspective these two basic forms of consequentialism must be considered in determining the end state for a given situation. It is from this end state that the operational plan, and then tactical plans, are designed to achieve specific objectives. Although many would question the uprightness of the egoism form, the reality is that many, if not most, nations intentionally place self-interests as the basis for their foreign interventions. 14 As the current lone superpower in the world, the U.S. often has a focus on a utilitarian-based approach while also using a cost-benefit analysis to inform decision-making. Stated plainly, any intervention into a foreign country should be with the aim of improving regional stability. So, specifically within large scale humanitarian efforts, what is the best course of action that achieves the best consequences for the most people of the affected populations?

Whole-of-Society Solutions

From a U.S. policy perspective, Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, U.S. Army (Ret.) and Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward, USAF (Ret.), as guest columnists for Best Defense, identify the need for a more effective organization that inspires whole-of-society solutions to situations like Syria, or any hybrid war. They state that the U.S. is overly dependent on the U.S. military to solve problems. They propose that The nation needs a quarterback to organize the remaining muscle of a $4 trillion government, an army of nonprofits, the brainpower of universities, the engine of private sector, and networks of state and local governments that are now untapped or underutilized in crises. 15

Freakley and Woodward recommend revising the 1947 National Security Act to create a newly empowered National Security Council (NSC) with more authority, and one that includes whole-of-society solutions. Simply put, the NSC would create the strategy and also bring multiple entities together to prevent crises or to respond quickly and effectively once a crisis appears. After the conflict, their recommendation includes an approach like the Marshall Plan to enable a country to recover and rebuild. Experts from inside and outside of the government must be included, along with governments and experts from allied countries. The plan would need to be comprehensive and include the political, diplomatic, informational, economic, military and societal efforts. This new policy would align somewhat with current joint doctrine, Joint Publication (JP) 3-08, whereby the whole-of-government approach is discussed. The goal of this new NSC is first to keep a constant focus on U.S security goals and then develop a strategic vision for success.16

Operational Approaches

If the new NSC, as described by Freakley and Woodward does come about, they may have an ability to make more timely decisions. This would affect how quickly the U.S. Military must prepare for deployment into HW. There would be an immediate requirement to develop operational approaches to set the conditions for the whole-of-society solution. Major Rick Johnson, in his monograph in the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) Report 13-4 states there are three imperatives for operational art in HW. It is important to note that these imperatives explain the characteristics of an operational approach, not a holistic approach such as the whole-of-society concept. 17

The first is that the approach must cognitively disrupt the hybrid threats logic in the forms of warfare employed, rather than just using physical means. The synchronization of combined tactical actions must achieve enough of a disruptive effect on the enemy that an opportunity exists to exploit the situation with a continuation of operations. Examples include the concept of Operational Shock to attack the coherent unity of the hybrid threat as a system, such as targeting the interconnections in the enemys system. 18 In the whole-of-society concept, along with doctrine contained in JP 3-0, experts from not only the military, but scientists and even scholars from think tanks and academia could be significantly helpful for the disruptive effect on the enemy. 19

The second imperative, based upon doctrinal underpinnings in JP 3-08, Interorganizational Coordination During Joint Operations, is to produce a fusion of actions within the combined efforts of military and non-military organizations. Again, the whole-of-society concept would benefit, this time by enabling this fusion of military and non-military organizations to occur. It is critical that the total approach fuse tactical successes to the strategic objectives within the same context which gave birth to the hybrid threat forces. Therefore, it is imperative that military forces possess a situational understanding of the area of operations and link tactical actions to the operational objectives. For example, multiple missions and tasks will be required to support the combined humanitarian effort. Military commanders and their staffs must fuse with non-military organizations and understand the big picture of how they fit into the overall plan. 20

The third imperative is understanding that HW is a relationally complex, and at times, chaotic situation. In HW, military commanders must probe for information and use emergent practices to gain and maintain the initiative over hostile forces. 21 Especially for Army commanders, the exercise of mission command is paramount, as prescriptive or uniform measures are too rigid and binding. Most information on the enemy and environment may come from the bottom up, so the use of disciplined initiative empowers leaders to discover unexpected opportunities and threats. 22

U.S. Military Proactive Approaches to Humanitarian Operations in Hybrid Warfare

With faster deployment timelines and more integrative requirements to be part of a whole-of-society approach, the U.S. military must have an expeditionary mindset and capabilities unequaled in previous conflicts. JP 3-29, Foreign Humanitarian Assistance, 03 January 2014, discusses Complex Emergencies. 23 The United Nations (UN) defines a complex emergency as a humanitarian crisis in a country, region, or society where there is a total or considerable breakdown of authority resulting from internal or external conflict and which requires and international response that goes beyond the mandate or capacity of any single agency and/or the ongoing UN country program. 24 JP 3-29 uses the UNs definition complex emergency in describing actions that might be necessary in HW for all the military services, but only in general tasks and terms. The requirement to integrate into a whole-of-society approach during HW means significantly more pre-planning and coordination in order to respond effectively and efficiently. 25

During HW, multiple players and numerous belligerent groups are operating within the area of operations, including those embedded within the population, even at times using them as human shields. Conducting humanitarian operations in a hybrid war often occurs within a chaotic and dangerous environment. To actively pursue operations to relieve widespread suffering and end atrocities, a robust and capable multi-national military force must provide a safe environment for the overall plan to be successful.

If the U.S. military commits to undertake a substantial humanitarian intervention, it must be part of a broader multi-national campaign to first eliminate the threat. This would require the new NSC and the whole-of-society approach to collaborate and fuse with our multi-national partners for the intended outcomes. This would also involve the U.S. military to do the same amongst partner militaries for operational and tactical operations. Although this collaboration would add to the complexity of planning and execution, the fusion would significantly enhance the overall capabilities and political support of the force. 26

The military approach must be integrative and multi-dimensional within the overall plan. Neither a singular approach using airstrikes, nor a one-time desperate attempt to push or parachute limited relief supplies into an area, will suffice. Even if successful, the relief ends up being short term and possibly counterproductive, enabling the belligerents to pilfer the supplies and sell them on the black market. Over the last several months we have seen unsuccessful humanitarian attempts like this in Syria, such as the February 2016 Munich Security Conference to temporarily halt the fighting in Syria to get relief supplies to staving communities. In hybrid war, political negotiations to stop the fighting seem improbable at best. Much more likely is for the belligerents to use the negotiations to buy time to make their own gains without threat of a foreign intervention. For example, at the same time as the Munich Security Conference was occurring, tens of thousands of Syrians were being driven from their homeland by Syrian government and terrorist forces. 27

Conclusion

Migration as a weapon in HW produces massive humanitarian crises. Syria is the most notable example during current times. In planning for humanitarian relief, ethical considerations must be included to determine the best strategy and course of action. Because of the complexity and requirement for faster responses with HW, whole-of-society approaches or something like it, are necessary to provide operational approaches that disrupt the hybrid threats logic rather than just using physical means, such as airstrikes. Even so, the U.S. militarys ground role in Joint Humanitarian Operations remains basically the same but will necessitate tighter timelines and more requirements to coordinate and collaborate with other militaries and more government and non-government organizations. Considering that the US military will most likely conduct humanitarian operations within HW scenarios, gaining and maintaining situational understanding is crucial to mission success. This will require a reliance on the philosophy and principles of mission command in order to provide a secure environment for a whole-of-society approach to the problems of the future.

End Notes

1Andrew F. Krepinevich, Overhauling the Army for the Age of Irregular Warfare. The Wall Street Journal (February 18, 2016).

2 Department of the Army, ADP 3-0, Unified Land Operations (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, October 2011), 4.

3Maxim Trudolyubov, Russias Hybrid War. The New York Times (February 24, 2016).

4Liz Sly, Trapped Between Airstrikes and Locked Gate, Syrian Refugees are Pawns in a Wider War. The Washington Post (February 10, 2016).

5Ben Thompson, NATO Commander says Russia and Syria are using migration as a Weapon. The Christian Science Monitor (March 2, 2016), 2.

6Frank Prautzsch, U.S. Army Mega City Operations: Enduring Principles and Innovative Technologies. Small Wars Journal (February 22, 2016).

7Thompson, The Christian Science Monitor, 2-4.

8Ibid., 1-4.

9Sly, The Washington Post.

10Ibid.

11Ibid.

12Daniel M. Bell, Introduction to Deontology and Consequentialism for Military Leaders. E100 Readings, (Fort Leavenworth, KS: USACGSC, Summer 2015), 1-9.

13Ibid., 7.

14Department of Defense, Joint Publication (JP) 5-0, Joint Operation Planning (Washington DC: Government Printing Office), 11 August 2011, II-1.

15Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, U.S. Army (Ret.) and Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward, USAF (Ret.), Retired generals: Time for new body to coordinate and implement national policy, (March 10, 2016), Foreign Policy/Best Defense on line at <http://foreignpolicy.com/>

16Ibid.

17Major Richard Johnson, Synthesis: Operational Approaches to Hybrid Warfare. Hybrid Warfare, Joint Special Operations University (MacDill AFB, FL), August 2013, 101-108.

18Ibid., 104.

19 Department of Defense, Joint Publication (JP) 3-0, Joint Operations (Washington DC: Government Printing Office), 11 August 2011, IV-4.

20Johnson, Hybrid Warfare, Joint Special Operations University, 102.

21C.F. Kurtz and D.J. Snowden, The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world. (IBM Systems Journal, Vol. 42, No 3, 2003), 462-483.

22Department of the Army, ADP 6-0, Mission Command. (Washington DC: Government Printing Office. May 2012), 1.

23Department of Defense, Joint Publication (JP) 3-29, foreign Humanitarian Assistance (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 03 January 2014), 20, 69.

24Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA Orientation Handbook on Complex Emergencies (Washington DC: United Nations Printing Office. August 1999), Chapter 6, on line at <http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/3D153DA3049B322AC1256C30002A9C24-ocha__orientation__handbook_on__.html#6>

25JP 3-29, 20, 69.

26JP 3-29, Chapter II.

27 Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Dispatch from the Turkish Border: Syrians Waiting in Vain for the World. Defense One (February 10, 2016). Online at <http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2016/02/dispatch-from-turkey-syria>

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Considerations for Planning Humanitarian Operations in Hybrid Warfare - smallwarsjournal

Selfies and participation trophies may not be the downfall of society. Courtesy photo

By Monica Sanchez

Millennials are the worst, right? Theyre annoying and overbearingly doing some kind of action that irks the dark recesses of societys soul. What must be done about this incessant Millennial problem that is spreading its infectious ideology across the globe?

Its rather difficult to come up with a wholly effective solution to the Millennial problem, but lets think radically for a moment on how to go about handling such people and what they represent. Quite simply, accept it. All these grievances being echoed on repeat dont exactly give Millennials any credit whatsoever, and as human beings, Millennials at the very least have some redeeming characteristics.

So lets reevaluate five common grievances about Millennials that are actually character strengths:

Theyre always on their phone.

Hello and welcome to the present, where career networking is now accomplished through social networking. Millennials are always on their phone not just to show how lit their night was on Snapchat but to build and maintain positive relationships with others and reach out to people or companies they normally would not be able to communicate with.

While the phone and social media naysayers might feel the need to interject with Why dont you just meet them in person?

In the working world, thats not always possible due to time constraints and conflicting schedules. Keeping in contact with people via texts and social media is more convenient and reliable for the working Millennial who may be juggling two jobs, a masters program, and even a child.

Staying on top of social media communication is also a great way for Millennials aspiring towards a specific career to get their start. See the past Millennial Feed article: Why Employers Want Millennials With Social Media Skills.

Because Millennials use their phones incessantly for career networking, they have built an aptitude for immersive learning that other generations have not completely caught onto yet. Walk into a random office on any given day, and you will inevitably be a witness to someone calling a Millennial for help with a computer issue. Phones are the gateway device to immersive learning, and the griping and grievances about Millennials on their phones must end if they are constantly sought after for their technological skills.

Theyre entitled because they were given participation trophies as kids.

Surprisingly, participation trophies have led to intrinsic motivation within Millennials. Because Millennials have been told that they were valued as children, it made them significantly more optimistic and confident than children who did not receive the same level of attention or appreciation.

As a result, they have caused Millennials to want to complete a task or try something new not out of the prospect of a possible reward or an answer to Whats in it for me? Instead, those horrid golden prizes have caused Millennials to complete tasks in order to gain enjoyment and pleasure from simply participating in various activities. Active participation is a nostalgic reminder of their childhood, and nostalgia is a dictator that rules a large portion of most peoples choices throughout life. In this case for Millennials, that strict dictatorship is a positive factor in their lives because nostalgia can lendmuch-needed context, perspective, and direction (Psychology Today), which it has by laying the foundation for the desire to achieve intrinsic rewards through simple participation.

A common complaint about participation trophies that reverberates throughout older generations is that they are sole contributor of the downfall of the Millennial generation. The complaints heard across the country go as follows: Participation trophies make kids afraid of failure, or participation trophies make them feel entitled to everything.

On the contrary, those participation trophies have given Millennials confidence to seek new experiences, chase different opportunities, and try new activities, even if they may not exactly be good at them.

And Millennials are not so hopelessly delusional as one might think. They are aware that they will not just magically get everything that they want because they were told theyre special once after a soccer game when they were eight years old.

Most importantly, participation trophies have also taught Millennials how to show appreciation and respect for others no matter who they are, which is a contributing factor as to why Millennials care so much about social justice. A person who feels entitled and superior to others would not even think twice about social justice.

They have no respect for authority.

Millennials lack of blind obedience to authority obviously makes them the most disrespectful generation to ever have existed. How dare they question anything!

While its unthinkable that Millennials, as human beings, would have curiosity and feel compelled to wonder why things are the way they are, its important to note that this behavioral trait is not unique to Millennials alone. Curiosity is a personality component that applies to the youth in every generation.

Plus, being able to question things is a trait that society should want Millennials to have too. In fact, St. Edwards University claims that great leaders know that the path to exceptional growth and performance often requires upending existing ideas to choose a new path, noting examples such as Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell, and Pope Francis, who both questioned the status quo in their respective fields.

Questioning the status quo demonstrates that the Millennial generation can think critically about difficult situations and will ultimately lead them to generate alternative solutions to societal problems. Millennials have the skills to become leaders of the future, and it all begins with questioning authority. And Millennials will continue to do so because they dont simply accept whatever is happening to them. Their posts on social media and active participation in political protests prove just that. At the end of the day, people should want Millennials to be leaders and not followers.

Theyre selfish and self-absorbed.

Every side has its story, and from the Millennials point of view, their so-called selfishness and self-absorbed behavior is simply a positive sense of focus.

Yes, Millennials love to post what theyre doing with their lives online, especially their accomplishments. Millennials goals are important to them. They like talking about and sharing their goals with others via social media because it helps keep them focused on working towards achieving them. And when they finally achieve those goals, isnt it a reasonable concept that people might possibly be proud of their accomplishments in life?

Millennials are also aware that its a cruel world, and the philosophy of ethical egoism states that people ought to do whatever action maximizes ones own self-interest (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a person can be morally right if they positively achieve such an action without detrimentally harming the well-being of others.

In a competitive job market, Millennials already know that they need to do whatever it takes to survive, even if they have to resort to tactics of ethical egoism and annoy people with their goals and accomplishments by showcasing them online.

Theyre unrealistic.

Oh, Millennials and their unrealistic expectationswhen will they learn that humanity is not allowed to have dreams, goals, or any hope for something better in life?

What some people might label as unrealistic optimism and expectations, Millennials will refer to as positivity. This strange but ancient concept is vital to peoples mental and physical health. Harvard Health Publications states that optimism helps people cope with disease and recover from surgery. And the University of Rochester Medical Health Center informs the public that optimistic people tend to live longer and have better physical and mental health than pessimistic people.

Its important to find ways to stay positive just to maintain basic mental and physical health in order to keep trudging on because life is hard! Thats an obvious statement that shouldnt bear repeating. But with all the frustration directed towards Millennials high levels of optimism, society seems to need a reminder that optimism is actually a good trait to have. So if some Millennials are a little more optimistic than the average person, then let them be for their own well-being.

Millennials have had to swallow a lot of criticism and hold their tongues at times in order to avoid being labeled as disrespectful and rude. But George Orwell had it right in relaying that every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it. Perhaps, Millennials will be regurgitating similar phrases of negativity and bitterness when youth has shed itself of them too.

Hopefully, that is not the case and Millennials will learn, based on their experiences, to end this detrimental cycle of blatant ageism. But it is only human nature to comment and react negatively to things we find unpleasant due to a lack of comprehension. Moving forward, lets avoid holding onto personal bias and be more willing to learn from each other, for every generation has invaluable wisdom to offer.

Link:

Are These 5 Grievances About Millennials Character Strengths? - Siera Madre Weekly