What Are Ethics?

BY BARCODE 2X, MZ. MANNERS, SANDY BOTTOMS

The a2ethics.org staff sits in the newsroom for a moment in silence.

BARCODE 2x: Don't everybody jump in at once.

MZ.MANNERS: I still don't think I know.

SANDY BOTTOMS: Ethics are the study and practice of right and wrong. Decision making, that's the easiest way I can explain it.

MM: But there are decisions you make that aren't ethical one way or another. Little white unethical decisions.

B2X: Not true.

SB: Right, it could be argued that every decision has ethical underpinnings.

MM: Whether I eat original recipe or extra crispy, that's not an ethical decision.

SB: That's an ethical minefield. You have to consider the ingredients, the KFC company policies, what they fry it in, how much petroleum goes into a bucket of chicken, etc.

B2X: I bet it takes a bucket of oil to make a bucket of chicken.

MM: Okay, so that's a bad example.

B2X: Ethics are everywhere.

SB: Right. But consider the other ways we define ethics, like in terms of values and principles that guide individuals, and cultures, and that sort of thing. There are ethics in every industry, every business, a different set of moral codes and ideas that apply to law, medicine, religion, and that sort of thing. Politics, I mean, there's never been a better time to talk about ethics in government.

MM: Right.

B2X: There are a lot of ethical issues in the news.

MM: Gee, you think?

B2X: Let's talk about where we are, what we're working on.

MM: I'm up to my elbows in this Palin fashion thing, everything else is on the back burner till the 4th.

B2X: There are lots of other issues we can be covering besides just Sarah Palin. A lot of people think that her story is a distraction from the real issues.

MM: No. She is the issue. Everything else is just part of the background, none of it matters.

B2X: Sandy?

SB: I have the Big Ethical Questions series going, I have...y'know...it's major philisophical stuff, it's big, I donm't like to talk about it. You?

B2X: I'm behind. I need to get the ethical review of W. done.

MM: One of these days you need to review a film when it comes out.

B2X: An ethical review can wait, there is something to be said for waiting out the initial hype and looking at the film once it's had a bit of time to sink its teeth into our culture. So waiting a little is perfectly ok, as long as you don't wait too long.

MM: Okay, but the film is going to be released on DVD any second here, you should probably get on it.

B2X: I'm looking at the ways film and television are influencing the election, so I'm  putting it all in a greater context. It's more ethicky that way.

MM: Ethicky.

SB: It's a word.

Silence.