Ethics (Value Crisis) by Manoj K. Jha

Model Answer

Question #1. "When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property”. Illustrate the essence of the statement.

Hints:

• Public employment carries with it a unique obligation to uphold the public trust. It is the confidence of the people that directs and empowers authorities to perform their duties and obligations in accordance to what they ought to deliver to the people who put them in position.
• Further trust can only be maintained through open, honest, accountable and transparent government, fundamentally through good governance. This requires healthy public and private relationships. The national interest should overpower self interest and conduct of the civil servant should be in tune to the professional values.
• He should work selflessly to demonstrate the highest standards of professional competence, efficiency and effectiveness, upholding the Constitution and the laws, and seeking to advance the public good at all times and should put possibilities for personal advantage to one side.
• Public servants should work for betterment of society by sticking to their duties as prescribed according to law alongwith integrity and honesty.
  
  
  

Question #2. What is a social sin? Is there any standard definition of it? How can we abstain from social sins? And if we fail to abstain from so called social sins, what would be the consequences? 

Hints:

• The social sin applies to every action against justice in interpersonal relationship, committed either by the individual against the community or by the community against the individual. There is no effective and standard definition of social sin till date which explicitly interprets the wider meaning of the term, however, as per its nature it can be defined as "those actions which are the results of thousands or even millions of different selfish choices by as many different people and thus is collective, an aspect of our society which doesn't resemble the kingdom of God".
• A social sin usually involves other people. However in today's changing scenario of the world have changed the dimensions of social sins which include:

1. 1. Bioethical violations such as birth control
   2. Morally dubious experiments such as stem cell research
   3. Drug abuse
   4. Polluting the environment
   5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor
   6. Excessive wealth
   7. Creating poverty

• For abstaining from the social sin, awareness about the sin and its consequences on oneself and society is must. This will help an individual in choosing the right path in life.
• The consequences of social sin can be felt at both the individual level as well as the societal level. For example: corruption is one of the biggest social sins in the present era. Money that is meant to benefit the people is diverted to the pockets of corrupt government officials and their conspirators. It can lead to death and damage of property when corrupt government officials allow corporations to destroy the environment that causes flooding, air pollution, and climate change.
• Similarly use of biotechnology for cloning or stem cell research have ethical implications as it contradicts the duty to prevent or alleviate suffering, and the duty to respect the value of human life.
• Hence people should abstain from involving in social sins.