...Slavery in the Chocolate Factory 1. What are the systemic, corporate, and individual ethical issues raised by this case? First of all, this article was interesting to read because it pertains to ethical issues on several levels as we can see throughout and I personally never knew about slavery in the chocolate industry. From a systemic approach, ethical issues arise from the producer or farmers of the cocoa beans to the manufacturer of chocolate and ultimately the end consumer of the goods. As the media and formal documentaries have pointed out, the reason for child slavery in this industry is because farmers need to keep their costs down in order to meet the demand of the world’s chocolate consumption. This world consumption is the driving force that continues to sustain child slavery in areas like the Ivory Coast. We can see that some governmental action has tried to disrupt the systemic ethical issues that arise, but the problem continues today because the corporate level has a lot of political weight that adds to the problem. The corporate figures of our world including Hersey Foods Corp. and M&M Mars, Inc. continue to add to the problem of child slavery in the Ivory Coast. With self-interests in mind, these chocolate producing powerhouses unethically know that they are toying with legislation to give Americans the impression that they are actually attempting to solve the issues at hand. We can see from their lack of effort and extended deadlines to complete their...
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...Case Study - Slavery in Chocolate 1. What are the systemic, corporate, and individual ethical issues raised by this case? • Local and Global Laws are not enforced due to lack of resources or the desire to enforce the laws. • The number of farmers (1M) and the system makes it difficult to identify the source of the cocoa beans harvested using slavery. • Global decline in cocoa bean prices drove farmers to use slavery to lower labor cost. • Corporations are unable or unwilling to take action to improve the situation in harvesting the cocoa bean. • The fundamental demands of shareholder profits drives corporation to turn a blind eye to how cocoa is harvested. • Chocolate Consumers are kept so far removed from the Cocoa source that they are unaware or choose to be ignorant of the cost involved to create chocolate. 2) In your view is the kind of child slavery discussed in this case absolutely wrong no matter what or is it only relatively wrong i.e. if one happens to live in a society like ours that disapproves of Slavery. I believe that Slavery is wrong. Kidnapping is wrong. Forced labor for children is wrong. I would like to believe Slavery is absolutely wrong but this is coming from a Western perspective where we hold personal freedom as a right. We also don’t see the populations of poverty that some third world countries face. In countries where there is a high infant/child death rate due to poverty, and starvation, living as a slave could be seen as a preferable...
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...Deontology & Slavery PHI208: Ethics and Moral Reasoning Deontological ethics is a moral theory that is somewhat agreeable and sympathetic to human rights. Deontology focuses not on the consequences of actions but on the duties we have; and one man’s rights are another man’s duties. Deontology is based on the idea that good consequences do not override our duties. Doing the right thing is more important than increasing the good in society. The idea is that if you do the right thing versus what is good for society ultimately it will become what is good for society. Deontology does not accept slavery. Humans should be treated as objects of intrinsic moral value; that is, as ends in themselves and never as a mere means to some other end. We are not to enslave torture or murder one person even if that would increase total welfare. Respecting people’s right to be free is not simply good to do because you will be condemned if you don’t. It’s also more than the proper thing to do. It’s not just something that is strongly logical or something that you should do. Deontology is based on duties. A duty is specific and is something you must do. In all of my research I find that deontological ethics is widely against slavery in every way. Whether is against slavery because of the action or the consequence you will find that no form of deontology supports slavery. Based on Immanuel Kant’s ideal justice would always be safeguarded for individuals who are always “ends in themselves”...
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...presidency is characterized by the Civil War, which started in 1861. The Civil war was mostly composed of two opponents: The North and the South (Confederate States) of the United States. The North was in favor of the abolition of slavery while the South was not. Indeed, the South’s economy mostly relied on slavery. Specifically, Lincoln is well known because of the Emancipation Proclamation that he established during his...
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...Illinois. He believed that it was too modified and that it went against the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase. Lincoln had said earlier, “For although volume upon volume is written to prove slavery a very good thing, we never hear of the man who wishes to take the good of it, by being a slave himself” (Mason/Baker, 436). The Kansas-Nebraska Act gave the territories popular sovereignty, the direct opposite of the previous decision. “I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world; enables the enemies of free institutions with plausibility to taunt us as hypocrites; causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity; and especially because it forces so many good men among ourselves into an open war with the very fundamental principles of civil liberty, criticizing the Declaration of Independence, and insisting that there is no right principle of action but self-interest” (Mason/Baker, 463). In 1854, Abraham Lincoln protested that both blacks and whites had the same right to enslave each other and neither had more superiority. He used a theory to prove all of the whites' reasons for slavery were incorrect and could be turned around to enslave them. "You say A. is white, and B is black. It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your own" (Mason/Baker...
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...status, rights, and opportunities. There is much in literature, film, and in reality that tells us equality is not an easy opportunity to be given to someone or something. Katharina, the protagonist in the play The Taming of The Shrew, was not treated fairly and was controlled by her husband Petruchio. Even back in the days, when slavery was a thing, slaves were denied access to freedom, did not have much opportunities, and did not have their own rights. My personal experience is yet another example of not being treated fairly. I was picked on based upon my race and skin colour. Despite best efforts, equality can be difficult to achieve. In the Shakespearean play, ‘The Taming of The...
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...Name: Asher Andrews Submitted to: Ms Elishah St.Luce Class: Business Ethics “The case of slavery in the chocolate industry” ‘ What are the systemic, corporate and individual ethical issues raised by the case? First of all what is ethics? According to Manuel G Velasquez “Ethics is the discipline that examines ones moral standard or the moral standards of a society. It asks how these standards applies to our lives and whether these standards are reasonable or unreasonable, that is, whether they are supported by good reasons or poor ones.” In a nut shell ethics is what individuals and the society view as being right or wrong. The case "Slavery in the Chocolate Industry" discusses labor exploitation in the chocolate industry. It specifically addresses the cocoa beans grown on farms in West Africa, especially the Ivory Coast and Ghana, which make up close to half of the world's chocolate. The cocoa farmers of these nations, rely on slaves to harvest their beans, and in some cases, enslavement of young males. The plight of the enslaved children was publicized around the world in September 2000 when True Vision, a British television company, took videos of slave boys on several Ivory Coast farms and broadcast a documentary in Britain and the United Sates. In 2002, the Chocolate Manufactures Association and the World Cocoa Foundations along with major producers signed an agreement to establish a system of certification to certify use of “slave free” cocoa beans....
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...Case Study - Slavery in Chocolate Case Study - Slavery in Chocolate 1. What are the systemic, corporate, and individual ethical issues raised by this case? • Local and Global Laws are not enforced due to lack of resources or the desire to enforce the laws. • The number of farmers (1M) and the system makes it difficult to identify the source of the cocoa beans harvested using slavery. • Global decline in cocoa bean prices drove farmers to use slavery to lower labor cost. • Corporations are unable or unwilling to take action to improve the situation in harvesting the cocoa bean. • The fundamental demands of shareholder profits drives corporation to turn a blind eye to how cocoa is harvested. • Chocolate Consumers are kept so far removed from the Cocoa source that they are unaware or choose to be ignorant of the cost involved to create chocolate. 2) In your view is the kind of child slavery discussed in this case absolutely wrong no matter what or is it only relatively wrong i.e. if one happens to live in a society like ours that disapproves of Slavery. I believe that Slavery is wrong. Kidnapping is wrong. Forced labor for children is wrong. I would like to believe Slavery is absolutely wrong but this is coming from a Western perspective where we hold personal freedom as a right. We also don’t see the populations of poverty that some third world countries face. In countries where there is a high infant/child death rate due to poverty, and starvation, living...
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...have a sense of what is morally right and the relativity of it. “There are traits, customs, and beliefs that make us distinctive to certain cultures, races, and classes, which due to the differences we all follow, a set of different moral standards. Each culture tackles moral questions based on their own moral beliefs.” (Winter, 2011) Relativism maintains when it comes to right and wrong there is neither, because what is virtuous within a particular individual, culture or societies morality must be understood and taken into consideration (Mosser, 2010). Lenn Goodman brings up arguments that there are certain things that are simply wrong. Some people would agree, if you follow his thinking, yet there will be a few that would present a logical argument that would contradict his arguments. The areas of moral debates that Goodman chose would bring on a mass debate of arguments when it comes to cultures, races, ethic identities, or classes. Within the American society there are a huge amount of different cultures. The cultures all function together and have different beliefs and values. It is these different beliefs and values that make America and interesting place to live. The beliefs of Lenn Goodman are based on the history of moral knowledge and what many of us as Americans think are right (Goodman, 2010). There are universal moral requirements as we have witnessed over time throughout history. The claim of certain rights and wrongs has been a forewarning for battles...
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...Case Study - Slavery in Chocolate 1. What are the systemic, corporate, and individual ethical issues raised by this case? • Local and Global Laws are not enforced due to lack of resources or the desire to enforce the laws. • The number of farmers (1M) and the system makes it difficult to identify the source of the cocoa beans harvested using slavery. • Global decline in cocoa bean prices drove farmers to use slavery to lower labor cost. • Corporations are unable or unwilling to take action to improve the situation in harvesting the cocoa bean. • The fundamental demands of shareholder profits drives corporation to turn a blind eye to how cocoa is harvested. • Chocolate Consumers are kept so far removed from the Cocoa source that they are unaware or choose to be ignorant of the cost involved to create chocolate. 2) In your view is the kind of child slavery discussed in this case absolutely wrong no matter what or is it only relatively wrong i.e. if one happens to live in a society like ours that disapproves of Slavery. I believe that Slavery is wrong. Kidnapping is wrong. Forced labor for children is wrong. I would like to believe Slavery is absolutely wrong but this is coming from a Western perspective where we hold personal freedom as a right. We also don’t see the populations of poverty that some third world countries face. In countries where there is a high infant/child death rate due to poverty, and starvation, living as a slave could be seen as a preferable...
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...good. 2. Only if you would agree to allow everyone to do what you are doing is your action morally allowable or right. 3. What makes an action obligatory is that it leads to the great-est good for the greatest number. Motives are irrelevant. 4. The only thing that counts in determining whether someone did the right thing or not is the motive. The results of the action are irrelevant. 5. Since we can always turn out to be wrong about a factual claim (for example, we think there are nine planets in the solar system, but perhaps there are ten), we don't really know anything about such matters. 6. The only thing that is worth pursuing is pleasure. 7. A good will can't be used for any bad end, but everything else can. So a good will is the only thing that is good in itself. 8. No one knows what is right or wrong, or good or bad. 9. Whenever you justify a specific moral judgment, such as "Slav-ery in the United States was wrong," you have to make reference to a general rule or principle, such as "All slavery is wrong." 10. Things of value in our society should be distributed to those who can afford them as a result of their success in competing in our economic system. 11. Moral judgments are an expression of personal taste. Just as "Hot fudge goes well with banana ice cream" is a question of your own taste, so is "Slavery in the United States was a morally bad institution." 12. Those and only those actions commanded by God are our...
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...Relativism and Morality In this article, “Some Moral Minima” by Lenn E. Goodman, he expresses his views about situations that he feels that are wrong. He explains and argues the wrong in murder, terrorism, hostages, slavery, rape, polygamy, and incest. He provides detailed examples of why he believes these things are wrong. I agree with him on these issues that are proven to be wrong morally. I do not believe that any one should take advantage of another person in any way i.e. discriminating or taking their life because it is unmoral in my opinion. One of the main points that the author wrote about was murder. Murder is a wrong and unmoral act and I do not feel any individual should have the right to end someone’s life for no reason at all or even if there is a reason. Who has the right to take a life? Goodman states “Murder is wrong because it destroys a human subject”. (pg.88 par.9) In Genesis 9:6 the Bible states “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed” and the only time I feel someone should be killed is if they are in the process of harming another individual’s life or if they have taken someone’s life. For example, if a person is in danger it should be a giving right for them to defend themselves and if someone kills another person they should be persecuted and put to death. In his article one of the types of murders he talked about was genocide. Genocide is type of murder that targets individuals as members of a group, seeking to destroy...
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...According to various documents examined, slavery did contribute with political controversy in the 19th century as it had to do with slaves gaining freedom, having power over political actions, and affecting persons decisions and thoughts. In the final document, the paper that was presented was a message warning the slaves that there are slave catchers and how the mayor had ordered the police to capture slaves (Document E). This shows how the people in America had lost of consideration towards the slaves as they made signs that would tell them to be careful. It also mentioned that the mayor told the police officers to act as slave catchers. This demonstrates that political acts had to do with slavery. Political spectrums had different opinions...
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...HEAD: RELATIVISM AND MORALITY PAGE 1 In reading the Lenn Goodman Some Moral Minima, I have to agree that certain things are simply wrong. The issues such as genocide, famine, germ warfare, terrorism, hostages, child warriors, slavery, polygamy, and incest are all topics that Goodman discusses that I have to agree that I have the same point of view as. I agree with Goodman because he says that “culture or character do not matter much morally”, but “personal and cultural difference do set a tone”. Relativism is the belief that nothing is ‘wrong’, that each culture has the right to choose their definitions of what is right or wrong. Morals are personal taught behaviors of right and wrong actions and or behaviors. No matter what religion, race, or culture you are from, some things are just simply wrong. Goodman is very good at describing that every person whether it be a man, woman, or child has the rights to live and be free from any and all inhumane treatment. Terrorism, Hostages, and Child Warriors are the first of Goodman’s topics. We hear every day about terrorism and hostages but for me child warriors are a topic that I have kind of forgotten about. Child warriors are something that I personally think is a topic that does not fit with the Moral Minima in my opinion. We agree that certain things are just simply wrong but in my opinion children are innocent. It is the adults that are committing the immoral and relativism crime. Although some of the children become...
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...the circumstances in which slavery was both a political and ideological part of American culture. When slavery was introduced to America, it was not a new concept. Slavery had already been a staple in Great Britain. The institution was just simply transferred over to America. The institution of slavery was commonly known to be wrong. The leaders of the day and the people who were slave owners all recognized this fault. Leaders such as Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Monroe, and Washington all understood that slavery was an evil, but in their eyes, it was a necessary evil in order to continue their economic statue. The profit-making institution was too strong of a social and political machine to abolish it. Owning a slave during the era of the Revolution and after, established a slave owner to be of the wealthy upper class in society. Because of slavery these land owners had plantations that flourished with crops. Crops that could be sold for a profit under free labor. Slaves were looked at as an investment and as property. Some developed significant relationships with their masters, such as Ben Lee did with Washington. However not all slaves were treated so nicely. Many were wiped, beaten, and worked to death. They were separated from their families and sold to other owners as if they were an inanimate object being...
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