Corporate Ethics

Sometimes political leaders are elected because of the wrong assumption that they possess certain core values ranging from helping the poor, relieving citizen hardship, improving the quality of life of the middle class and saving the environment,. What is unfortunate is to see that values such as respect, honesty, fairness, responsibility that were previously taken for granted, are now strongly questioned.

Many values are preached but no longer followed. History reported that when a corrupted society whose leaders acted illegally, unethically and only in their own best interests, was destined to collapse. Since the highly ranked in the government are the ones who are not guided by moral values and are not reflecting a good example to society, why are we shocked by headlines about pastors, ministers and teachers accused of sexual misconduct with children; why are we surprised to find out about athletic heroes using steroids; why are we disgusted when business leaders are caught in fraudulent and illegal schemes and why are we sickened by politicians involved in prostitution scandals. These are only consequences of bad ethics and low moral values of certain people who took for granted their high position in the government that put them above the law like Mr. Spitzer for instance.

In the case of; Elliot Spitzer, the former, Governor of New York. Elliot Spitzer has a history of being a hard nose prosecutor. When Elliot Spitzer was the Attorney of the State of New York, Mr. Spitzer spearheaded several cases when prostitution was the focus of his office. Mr. Spitzer ran his campaign for governor on the promise of change and a new ethically lead government. The golden rule that Mr. Spitzer forgot about was the rule that states: do unto other s, as you would have them do unto you. I believe that this golden rule plays a very big part in the downfall of Mr. Spitzer political career. Doing unto others, simply means treating others with respect, dignity, on the other hand the rules states: as you would have them do unto you, this is clearly stating how an individual would like to be treated. Elliot Spitzer did not see himself ever having to explain his way out of such a terrible situation. Mr. Spitzer, did a good job convincing the citizens of New York, that he was the right person to clean up the corruption in the land of politics, as well as the state of New York. Now Mr. Spitzer has become the biggest embarrassment the State of New York has ever had. Mr. Spitzer will now face some of the same charges that he prosecuted others for. The judicial system has been established for years and I believe that everyone should be held accountable for their discretions. The local news station stated that Mr. Spitzer should be allowed to go unpunished, because his resignation from the office of Governor was punish enough. I would like to ask a question, would that same statement fit for every citizen committing the same crime? I would go on the line to say NO. Ordinary citizens are held to a different standard than that of political leaders. So, will the golden rule really work in a society that have double standards.

The Deontological Theory focuses on doing what is “right” based on moral principles such as honesty, compassion, promise keeping, fairness, loyalty, justice, and respect for persons and property (Trevino & Nelson, 2004, p. 3). Eliot Spitzer, the soon to be resigned governor or New York, violated this theory on February 13, 2008 when he paid for a high-price prostitute while on a business trip in which he was to meet with congressional leaders. Another violation, for which he, his lawyers, and banking firms refuse to comment on, is the possibility of him using his campaign fund money to pay for sex-for-hire. But in the same breath, he did his duty by being honest in telling the world he was going to resign but never admitted his wrong doing.

Virtue Ethics perspective considers primarily the actor’s character, motivations, and intentions (Trevino & Nelson, 2004, p. 4). Eliot Spitzer got his law degree from Harvard University. He was the Attorney General of New York for eight years when George Pataki was governor. His notoriety came when he busted an illegal prostitution ring. He is noted for being extremely short-tempered. To erase the wrong doing Eliot has done in violating this theory, he is working out a plea bargain in which he will not do prison time. He may use his name and accomplishments as a way of getting around the violation of this theory.

When Republican congressional leaders heard of this news on March 11, 2008, they immediately insisted that the governor resign. Eliot Spitzer took the time to be with his family and lawyers to discuss what is best for him to do. Congressional leaders said they will file impeachment papers within 24 hours if he continued to serve on Capitol Hill as governor (Odato, 2008, p. 1). Two days later, Spitzer announced his resignation. Spitzer violated the Mann Act, a 1910 federal law that makes it a crime to induce someone to cross state lines for immoral purposes (Westfeldt & Gormley, 2008). Spitzer committed a crime and he should pay the price. Congressional leaders knew