Animal Rights

My opinion on animal rights may not be that popular but here it goes. I love meat. I love bacon. I love steak. I love sushi so I love fish. I love meat lovers pizza. That being said I have also watched Food Inc. For those of you out there who haven't watched Food Inc. I would suggest watching this short trailer so you understand what I am talking about.

That's just a short scene from the whole movie. The way big food companies treat the animals they're growing isn't just harmful to the animal but also to us the consumers. This is in no way right for the animal to be fed something not in its diet which causes the need for a hole to be placed in to remove what can't be digested. This isn't the only animal they do this with. Chickens are given hormones to make them grow faster and it makes them grow so fast that they can't stand up because they are so top heavy.
Of course animal rights aren't just about the animals we grow to harvest but also animals we have found to be smart. We have laws in place to protect animals that we find to be smarter then others. Should we be the ones who chooses who lives and dies? I'm not sure but those laws do a lot to protect a lot of animals and there rights.

Environmental ethics

Environmental ethics is a problem that you see every day. But what really seems to be the problem? People will say its big paper companies cutting down forests and destroying eco systems. If you look at most of those forests being chopped down they were grown by the paper companies for that sole purpose. So is it wrong for paper companies to harvest trees on the land that they own? It’s like if a farmer grows corn for the sole purpose of harvesting it and eating it. Of course it takes a lot longer but it’s the same principle. That's not saying that we should mass cut every forest in the world but that companies should be allowed to grow trees as crops. If you walk through the woods in Maine you are going to run into stone walls. They seem to be everywhere. That's because everywhere you see a stone wall that area used to be fields. Maine used to be covered in fields then they were allowed to grow out and tress began to grow everywhere. Even if you clear cut a small area there are still more tree there then there were 50 years ago. Although trees aren't the only problem when it comes to environmental ethics you will see people discussing fuel all the time. Personally I believe we should use solar panels and hydro plants to get electricity instead of oil. Not only because it’s better for the plant but also because it’s more practical. It’s cheaper and provides free and clean energy to those who choose to use it. The biggest problem with environmental ethics is it involves money more than it should. When discussed the only thing that seems to be brought up is how much it would cost not how much good it would do.

Capital Punishment

Capital punishment is another ethical issue in which my opinion is in the grey area. I neither disagree nor agree with capital punishment. For some criminals they have commitment bad enough crimes they should be put to death. If I man kills over 100 people we should put him to death that way he has no way of escaping. For some people you can't risk that chance. But I also understand that some people are wrongfully convicted and shouldn't be put to death for a crime they did not commit. Back to the other side putting those bad enough to death would potentially save the system money and free up room in prisons for other criminals. This would eliminate the problem of overcrowded prisons. For some having life in prison is a much worse punishment for death. If you didn't know in a super max prison you have 23 1/2 hours of the day in a lit room by yourself. The other 1/2 hour you get to go outside and walk back and forth in a gated area. Being stuck in isolation for the majority of a day is a terrible punishment that a lot of criminals deserve. Of course I they're good they can be transferred down to a lower security prison and regain privileges. Capital punishment is also a difficult dilemma because you come to the argument an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Are we just as bad as they are if we kill them for killing someone? It comes down to a difficult decision. In the old days when hangings were public people would come from miles around to watch. So as a society do we want the death penalty to punish criminals or do we want it for our own enjoyment? As sick as that may seem it’s a question we must ask ourselves.

Physician Assisted Suicide

As being someone who has never had to experience physician assisted suicide or anyone who has taken part in it this is an interesting topic for me. I do see a few problems with PAS that is. The first being people who see suicide as an option aren't always in the right state of mind. This can lead them to create an impulsive decision to end their lives even though tomorrow they might not feel the same way. The problem can be solved by making the patient wait a set time before deciding if this is the path they truly want to take. Another problem I see is with the doctor’s oath of "Do No Harm". Even if it is legal taking someone's life is still considered doing harm. There is a reason doctors are made to take this oath before they are allowed to practice medicine. Although I do see some problems with PAS that doesn't mean I am completely against it. If I was stuck in a bed in complete pain and I knew I would never recover I would want to be able to end it all instead of suffering. This of course can be seen as a completely unnatural solution to a natural problem.

Abortion

For me abortion is not a simple issue. As I am in fact a male and being a male I cannot get pregnant. Unless of course I was a sea horse but then again this would be a completely different issue. Because I cannot in fact get a pregnant the problem of having to carry a child around does not affect me. I have seen it happen a few times where two people are in school and one gets pregnant and is forced to drop out but the male is allowed to continue. I believe that it is the female’s choice on whether or not to keep the baby. I feel that I cannot force someone else to change everything about their lives because we both messed up. The woman is the one who must carry the child, give birth to the child, and afterwards take care of the child. While I believe in this I do not in fact believe that the male should have to pay child support if the woman decides to keep the baby. While is takes two to tango the woman has the choice on whether she wants to take on the commitment of a child and the male does not. This means that at any time even if the male wants the child she can terminate the pregnancy in her own right. At the same time if the male doesn't want the child but the female does he cannot force her into abortion but he can be forced to pay the consequences. Saying that I do not believe the male has the right to after 10 years of having children decide he doesn't want them anymore and not pay child support. That's not how parenting works. I bet there are plenty of times in a child's life the parents have just wanted to give them back to the hospital and make them take care of the child. Abortion is a tough issue and there is no right or wrong answer everyone has a different opinion. This is just mine it is neither right nor wrong it just is.   

Where I stand on Ethics

Utilitarianism is the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This means when you're making a decision you make it based on what will do the most good for everyone involved even if it hurts someone else. Deontology is based around doing ones duty. If you're a father it is your duty to take care of your family. Your actions are decided upon that which will fulfill your duty. Virtue ethics is doing something that makes you virtuous. My high school at a motto that "One man or woman of principle can always make a difference." It means you make decisions based on which makes you the most virtuous.
What I like about utilitarianism is that you do the most good but at the same time you have to make a sacrifice. This is shown in the "Trolley Problem". Deontology is good because it shows you that you must do your duty but at the same time your duty isn't always the right thing. Virtue ethics is a slippery one based on your decisions being virtuous but not ethical in your eyes.
I most identify with Utilitarianism. While I take my own ethical beliefs from a lot of different places the one I find most compelling is definitely utilitarianism. The idea of helping the most people appeals to me. Going into criminal justice its one of the things I hope to achieve being able to help the most people I can.

My Moral code

My moral code is a pretty simple one. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this. We should treat everyone as equals. I mean if you cut everyone open we're all the same on the inside doesn't matter what we look like on the outside. This means a lot of things. We shouldn't judge people based on the color of their skin. This includes judging someone with the same color skin as your own. Women are not better than Men and Men are not better than Women we are all equal. Pedophiles are a big no in my book. You can present me with as many papers as you want about how it’s natural but nothing is natural about scaring a child for life. I start going into a grey area when it comes to animal rights and environmental rights. It’s not that I don't have an opinion but I have more of a case by case bases of what's moral and less set in stone like human rights. I believe that the greatest good for the greatest number of people. If we can do that we can strive more as a human race and improve ourselves further. But if we lose ourselves in the process like who we are as human beings we aren't really gaining anything. We can't risk out humanity in the process of deciding what we do or else it doesn't matter if we're all equal. You should help those in need and not but others so that they are in need is a basic way to say what I believe. I am not a believer that we need war but sometimes it’s necessary. I would be more than happy to live in a world with no war. But if or until we reach that world we need a military and even if you don't support the war at least support the troops out there fighting it.

My moral code is kind of all over the place but it makes up what I believe. Mostly I just take everything on a case by cases bases.