All ethics articles

Beyond apathy: ordinary citizens make a difference

SJECThink4 — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:31 +0000

Dr Simon Longstaff

This article was published in Living Ethics: issue 86 summer 2011

One of the most important things to note about the Occupy Wall Street movement, and its cousins in other global cities, is the extent to which ‘Occupy’ is the shadow-side of the Tea Party. Both are movements designed to challenge dominant institutional arrangements. Both seek to harness popular resentment against elites. However, each movement has a different target in its sights: the Tea Party stalking ‘Big Government’ and Occupy stalking ‘Big Business’.

Dr Simon Longstaff is Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre. ethics.org.au

Occupy Wall Street: The search for a message

SJECThink4 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:51:49 +0000

Mary Elizabeth King

This article was published in Living Ethics: issue 86 summer 2011

As the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon grows, it has been expressing many truths, even while struggling to find a single over-arching message. The search for captions, slogans and themes that illuminate the changes sought is characteristic of civil resistance campaigns. This is not merely branding, but a way to sharpen the concrete results that can result from such a dramatic outpouring of human aspiration, emotion, energy, protest and yearning.

Mary Elizabeth King is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the UN-affiliated University for Peace and holds the position of Distinguished Scholar at the American University Centre for Global Peace, in Washington, DC. She is also a Rothermere American Institute Fellow at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. This article was originally published online at wagingnonviolence.org

Occupy as a rite of passage

SJECThink4 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:42:46 +0000

Marilyn Wedge

This article was published in Living Ethics: issue 86 summer 2011

There will always be ‘occupy’ movements, because societies need new metaphors and symbols in order to grow and face the future. Societies are highly structured and tend to become rigid and static over time. Anti-structure movements such as sit-ins, peace marches and occupy movements lead to sociocultural regeneration by providing new symbols and forms of social action. The new symbolic forms eventually diffuse throughout the society and become part of the cultural mainstream.

Extract from article entitled ‘Grandma, Did You Occupy Wall Street?’ by family therapist and author Marilyn Wedge. Source: huffingtonpost.com

Ethics in public life

SJECThink4 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:38:56 +0000

Danny Gilbert AM

This article was published in Living Ethics: issue 86 summer 2011

Public life is that vast collection of political, cultural, social and economic structures, including the workplace, which make up and underpin cohesive societies. People who are engaged in leadership positions in those organisations and who actually influence the lives of others are to varying degrees engaged in public life.

Danny Gilbert AM is co-founder and Managing Partner of law firm Gilbert + Tobin. He currently holds a number of directorships and is also a trustee of several private charitable trusts. This an extract from a seminar presented to the Edmund Rice Business Ethics initiative on 30 August 2011 entitled ‘Reflections on Ethics in Public Life’. You can read Danny’s paper in full at erc.org.au

Contemplating communication ethics

SJECThink4 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:31:15 +0000

Leanne Glenny PhD

This article was published in Living Ethics: issue 86 summer 2011

It’s so easy to criticise the ethics of professional communicators. After all, it’s relatively simple, isn’t it? All they need to do is tell the truth and be transparent about what is happening in their organisation and what they are ‘selling’. They even have codes of ethics to tell them what to do and what not to do.

Dr Leanne Glenny is a lecturer and researcher at the University of South Australia. This article is an edited version of a paper delivered at the Public Relations Institute of Australia’s national conference in October 2011 that was based on research conducted with the support of the Donald Dyer Scholarship. Follow Leanne on Twitter @LeanneGlenny

Spinning out of control

SJECThink4 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:20:21 +0000

Jane Caro

This article was published in Living Ethics: issue 86 summer 2011

Vodafone Egypt claiming credit for the Arab Spring. Advertisers hoodwinking consumers with purportedly genuine and unscripted happenings that turn out to be paid-for ads. Fake protests. Pop ups as unlikely venues are taken over to promote a product. These are just a few recent examples of the desperate measures corporations take to try and attract attention to their wares.

Former advertising writer Jane Caro wears many hats including author, lecturer, mentor, social commentator, columnist, workshop facilitator, speaker, broadcaster and award winning advertising writer. Jane is a regular guest on the ABC’s show about advertising The Gruen Transfer.

Are all women sluts?

SJECThink4 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:11:19 +0000

Annabel Tresise

This article was published in Living Ethics: issue 86 summer 2011

All Women are Sluts was one of the topics at this year’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas that interested me when I saw the program. It’s a catchy title, but what does the word ‘slut’ mean? The Macquarie dictionary defines it as “a slovenly or promiscuous woman”. However, as the three women panellists for the session agreed, most men and many women are unaware of this definition.

Annabel Tresise is a student of International Studies at Sydney University.

Why have an Age Discrimination Commissioner?

SJECThink4 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:59:40 +0000

Susan Ryan AO

This article was published in Living Ethics: issue 86 summer 2011

The Federal Attorney-General recently decided to amend the 2004 Age Discrimination Act to provide for a an Age Discrimination Commissioner in response to growing evidence of damaging discrimination on the basis of a person’s age. This discrimination is all too widespread. It affects older people in the main, though people of any age, including young people, experience age discrimination at times.

The Hon. Susan Ryan AO was appointed Age Discrimination Commissioner on 30 July 2011. This is an extract from a speech she delivered to a Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission Forum on the Rights of Older People in Melbourne on 28 October 2011. You can read this speech in full at humanrights.gov.au

Government information in a changing world

SJECThink4 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:53:01 +0000

John McMillan AO

This article was published in Living Ethics: issue 86 summer 2011

It is widely acknowledged that information is a valuable resource. The right information at the right time can enable innovation, boost productivity, and even save lives. Technology is shaping information management and driving the need for change as we share vast amounts of data online.

Information is an asset class that is as valuable to government as it is to business and is often described as “the new oil”. Indeed, as the World Economic Forum puts it:

Professor John McMillan AO is Australian Information Commissioner. oaic.gov.au

Dying with dignity

SJECThink4 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:44:05 +0000

Nicholas Cowdery AM QC

This article was published in Living Ethics: issue 86 summer 2011

Ever since humans came to live together we have needed rules for our conduct, in order to live harmoniously and to have ways of resolving disputes that inevitably arise. Laws are examples of our rules.

This is an excerpt of an address given by retired Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery AM QC to a parliamentary forum entitled A Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill for NSW on 15 November 2011. Find out more about this event and read this address in full at dwdnsw.org.au

Doctors support Voluntary Euthanasia Choice

Doctors have come out in support of the Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill for NSW to be introduced next year by NSW Green MP Cate Faerhmann.

Under current state laws, family members or medical practitioners who assist patients to commit suicide can face up to 10 years in prison.

At the parliamentary forum on 15 November, President of Dying with Dignity NSW, Dr Robert Marr, launched Doctors for Voluntary Euthanasia Choice, an alliance of medical practitioners formed to advocate for voluntary euthanasia:

“No doctor wants to kill a patient. But it’s not about that. It’s about people having the right to decide for themselves, not politicians or priests or doctors.”

For more information visit dwdnsw.org.au