San Jose Community College

San Jose, Malilipot Albay

ETHICS
(Principles of Ethical Behavior in Modern Society)
(Pre- final Module)

Jessa B. Vibar
Professor

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 Globalization and Pluralism: New Challenges to Ethics

Lesson 1
Globalization has renovated the globe from a collection of
separate communities interacting infrequently into a virtually
one multi-faceted community. Politically, economically, and
culturally therefore, communities across the world now function
in what is fundamentally a shared space although divided into
artificial political condominiums called nation-states.

The transnational relations made possible by globalizing forces

and processes have opened up new forms of social bonds and
responsibilities.
In a globalized era, peoples and communities across the world
have become culturally connected, the distinction between the
global and the local has become progressively blurred and actions
and events in one locality carry with it the potential to breed
transnational and trans generational impacts. It is precisely for
these reasons that moral reflection about our responsibilities
and obligations in a globalized age has become an imperative.

In this lesson, we will deal with the ethical challenges and

problems brought about by globalization. And in addition to
various theories in Ethics discussed in this book, we will
discuss in this lecture another ideology, called Pluralism, which
has arisen in the age of globalization.

Pluralism
Pluralism. As a philosophical doctrine, Pluralism is a concept
used in many diverse ways, but, in general terms; it is the
philosophical theory that there    is more than one basic
substance or principle, whether it be the constitution of the
universe, of the mind and body, the sources of truth, or the
basis of morality. In this discussion, we are more concerned with
moral pluralism. (Read the detailed discussion on Moral Pluralism
and its effects)

Globalization
Globalization may be defined as the world-wide integration of
government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial
markets through trade and the exchange of ideas. British
sociologist Anthony Giddens (born 1938) defines it as
“intensification of worldwide relationships which link distant
localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by
events occurring many miles away and vice versa” (as quoted in
“Globalization,” n.d.).

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 Various interrelated definitions are given for the concept
globalization. However, the common theme that runs through the
definitions is the stress on the trans-nationalization of the
connections taking place in the world today.

Globalization emphasizes the increasing trans-border or

transnational relations, which are occurring in the contemporary
world. Globalization, in effect, restructures our social space or
geography from one that is mainly territorial to one that is
increasingly transnational. In other words, whereas individuals
usually have most of their interactions and affiliations in the
past with others who share the same territorial space (e.g., the
village, town, or nation), there is massive mushrooming of
interactions and affiliations across these territories today
because of globalization. Evidently, globalization has brought
about the escalation of global relations.

Globalization is said to have begun after World War II but has

accelerated since the mid 1980s, driven by two factors. The first
is the technological advances that have reduced the cost of
transportation, communication, and computation to the degree that
it has become economically viable for a firm to place different
phases of production in various countries.

The other factor has to do with the business escalating

liberalization of trade and capital markets. More and more
governments are declining to protect their economies from foreign
competition or influence through import tariffs and nontariff
obstacles like import quotas, legal prohibition, and export
restraints.

Many international institutions founded after World War II, such

as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (succeeded in 1995 by the
World Trade Organization) have played a crucial role in endorsing
free trade in place of protectionism.

Some Problems with Globalization

Although generally seen as downright ”good” especially by many

economists, globalization unfortunately has a dark side. Author
Gail Tverberg enumerates some reasons why globalization is not
living up to what was ideally expected of it, and is, in fact,
our very major problem today. The following is a summarized
version of her online article; Twelve Reasons Why Globalization
is a Huge Problem (Tverberg, 2013):
 Globalization uses up finite resources more quickly. As an
example, China joined the World Trade Organization in December

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 2001. In 2002, its coal use began rising rapidly. In fact, there
is also a huge increase in world coal consumption. India’s
consumption is increasing as well, but from a smaller base.
 Globalization increases world carbon dioxide emissions. If the
world burns its coal more quickly, and does not cut back on other
fossil fuel use, carbon dioxide emissions increase.
 Globalization makes it virtually impossible for regulators in one
country to foresee the worldwide implications of their
actions. Actions which would seem to reduce emissions for an
individual country may indirectly encourage world trade, ramp up
manufacturing in coal-producing areas, and increase emissions
over all.
 Globalization acts to increase world oil prices.  Oil  supply 
is  not  growing  very much, due to limits we are reaching, and
partly because demand is exploding due to globalization. If we
look at world oil supply, it is virtually flat. Part of our
problem now is that with globalization, world oil demand is
rising very rapidly. Chinese buyers purchased more cars in 2012
than did European buyers. Rapidly rising world demand, together
with oil supply which is barely rising, pushes world prices
upward. The East has sufficient pent-up demand that it will make
use of any oil that is made available to the market.
 Globalization transfers consumption of limited oil supply from
developed countries to developing countries. If world oil supply
isn’t growing by very much, and demand is growing rapidly in
developing countries, oil to meet this rising demand must come
from somewhere. The way this transfer takes place is through the
mechanism of high oil prices. High oil prices are particularly a
problem for major oil importing countries, such as the United
States, many European countries, and Japan. Because oil is used
in growing food and for commuting, a rise in oil price tends to
lead to a cutback in discretionary spending, recession, and lower
oil use in these countries.
Developing countries are better able to use higher-priced oil
than developed countries. In some cases (particularly in oil-
producing countries) subsidies play a role. In addition, the
shift of manufacturing to less developed countries increases the
number of workers who can afford a motorcycle or car. Job loss
plays a role in the loss of oil consumption from developed
countries.

 Globalization transfers jobs from developed countries to less

developed countries. Globalization levels the playing field, in a
way that makes it hard for developed countries to compete. A
country with a lower cost structure (lower wages and benefits for
workers, more inexpensive coal in its energy mix, and more
lenient rules on pollution) is able to out-compete  a typical

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 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)
country. In the United States, the percentage of U.S. citizens
with jobs started dropping about the time China joined the World
Trade Organization in 2001.
 Globalization transfers investment spending  from   developed  
countries   to   less developed countries. If an investor has a
chance to choose between a country with a competitive advantage
and a country with a competitive disadvantage, which will the
investor choose? A shift in investment shouldn’t be too
surprising.
In recent years, the U.S. domestic investment has dropped off and
is now close to consumption of assets (similar to depreciation,
but includes other removals from service, such as removals
because manufacturing has moved overseas). The assets in question
include all types of capital assets, including government-owned
assets (schools, roads), business owned assets (factories,
stores), and individual homes. A similar pattern applies to
business investment viewed separately.

 With the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, globalization

leads to huge U.S. balance of trade deficits and other
imbalances. With increased globalization and the rising price of
oil since 2002, the U.S. trade deficit has soared. A major reason
for this is the fact that the U.S. dollar is the world’s “reserve
currency.” With the current working mechanism, the result is that
the United States can run deficits year after year, and the rest
of the world will take their surpluses, and use it to buy U.S.
debt. With this arrangement, the rest of the world funds the
United States’ continued overspending.
High oil prices together with globalization have led to huge U.S.
deficit spending since 2008. This has occurred partly because a
smaller portion of the population is working (and thus paying
taxes), and partly because

U.S. spending for unemployment benefits and stimulus has risen.

The result is a mismatch between government income and spending
Globalization tends to move taxation away from corporations, and
onto individual citizens. Corporations have the ability to move
to locations where the tax rate is lowest.
Individual citizens have much less ability to make such a change.
Also, with today’s lack of jobs, each community competes with
other communities with respect to how many tax breaks it can give
to prospective employers.

High oil prices seem to lead to depressed U.S. wages. If wages

are    low at the same time that wage-earners are being asked to
shoulder an increasing share of rising government costs, this

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 creates a mismatch that wage-earners are not really able to
handle.

 Globalization sets up a currency “race to the bottom,” with each

country trying   to get an export advantage by dropping the value
of its currency. Because of the competitive nature of the world
or global economy, each country needs to sell its goods and
services at as low a price as possible. (Related: The Global
Economy (And the Economic Globalization). This can be done in
various ways–pay its workers lower wages; allow more pollution;
use cheaper more polluting fuels; or debase the currency by
Quantitative Easing (also known as “printing money,”) in the hope
that this will produce inflation and lower the value of the
currency relative to other currencies.
There is no way this race to the bottom can end well. Prices of
imports become very high in a debased currency–this becomes a
problem. In addition, the supply of money is increasingly out of
balance with real goods and services. This produces asset
bubbles, such as artificially high stock market prices, and
artificially high bond prices (because the interest rates on
bonds are so low). These assets bubbles lead to investment
crashes. Also, if the printing ever stops (and perhaps even if it
doesn’t), interest rates will rise, greatly raising cost to
governments, corporations, and individual citizens.

 Globalization encourages dependence on other  countries  for 

essential  goods  and services. With globalization, goods can
often be obtained  cheaply  from elsewhere. A country may come to
believe that there is no point in producing its own food or
clothing. It becomes easy to depend on imports and specialize in
something like financial services or high-priced medical care–
services that are not as oil-dependent.
As long as the system stays together, this arrangement works,
more or less. However, if the built-in instabilities in the
system become too great, and the system stops working, there is
suddenly a very large problem. Even if the dependence is not on
food, but is instead on computers and replacement parts for
machinery, there can still be a big problem if imports are
interrupted.

 Globalization ties countries together, so that if one country

collapses, the collapse is likely to ripple through the system,
pulling many other countries with it. History includes many
examples of civilizations that started from a small base,
gradually grew to over-utilize their resource base, and then
collapsed. We are now dealing with a world situation which is not
too different. The big difference this time is that a large

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number of countries is involved, and these countries are
increasingly interdependent.
There are significant parallels between financial dislocations
now happening in the United States and the types of changes which
happened in other societies, prior to collapse. It is not just
the United States that is in perilous financial condition. Many
European countries and Japan are in similarly poor condition.

The failure of one country has the potential to pull many others
down, and with it much of the system. The only countries that
remain safe are the ones that have not grown to depend on
globalization, of which there are probably not many today–perhaps
landlocked countries of Africa.

Ethical Challenges of Globalization

The previous section deals mainly with economic aspects of
globalization. This portion, nonetheless, contend with their
ethical implications and other moral challenges posed by
globalization itself.

One criticism against the presently unfolding neoliberal

globalization is that it concentrates wealth in the hands of a
few, leaving the majority in the condition of poverty. While
advocates of globalization paint a pretty picture  of a
globalized world marked by the spread of liberal democracy,
prosperity, and peace, globalization has actually caused radical
inequality, a deepening of exclusions brought about by
inequalities that present the world to be a fragmented space
where some benefit at the expense of others. Critics thus
describe globalization as a process driven by progressive
capitalist countries to perpetuate their economic and political
domination.

That globalization and the propagation of the laissez-faire

capitalism deepen the inequalities within and between nations is
ethically condemnable from both the consequentialist and
deontological standpoints. From the consequentialist viewpoint,
the moral argument  against  globalization  is  that it fails to
maximize happiness for the greatest number of people. From    a
deontological perspective, particularly in Kantian ethics,
globalization is condemnable on the account that exploited
populations are treated as means to an end and not as end in
themselves.

Another problem with globalization is that states are in effect

increasingly losing their sovereignty. In a globalized world,
organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, and WTO virtually take
over their traditional functions. For example, the World Bank and

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the IMF usually prescribe dislikeable neoliberal policies such as
currency devaluation, subsidy removal, and the privatization of
strategic public enterprise as conditions for granting loans to
financially distraught states.

The disastrous repercussion of this is that elected indigenous

leader scede their prerogative over economic  management  to 
unelected  officials  of international organizations. This
scenario generated by globalization is thus seen as morally
condemnable intrusiveness of international economic
organizations, characterized by lack of accountability to the
people openly affected by their policies and the tendency to
impose agonizing conditions on indebted governments.

Ecologically speaking, another moral challenge arising out of

globalization is the problem of handling the global environment
in order to prevent a global ecological collapse, a scene that
threatens humanity with the threat     of annihilation. It is now
a basic knowledge among environmentally literate people that
today the world is threatened by a host of environmental problems
that carry with them potential planetary costs.

These problems involve anthropogenic greenhouse effect that is

supposedly generating global climate change, commonly known as
global warming. There is also the challenge of ozone layer
depletion, which progressively extinguishes the protective
blanket that shields the world’s population from unsafe ultra
violet rays being discharged from the sun. The global biosphere
is also encountering a speedy reduction in the diversity of
ecosystems, in the number of species of life, and in the variety
of genes that circulate within individual species.

Aggravating the various global environmental problems mentioned

is the explosive population growth which threatens to surpass the
earth’s carrying capacity and bust the biosphere. Combined, these
environmental problems essentially elucidate the idea of
transnational harm and the interdependent condition of human
existence in the 21st century primarily due to globalization.
Industrial capitalism, an essential partner of globalization, is
chiefly responsible for the damage of the ozone layer and the
escalation of global warming, two major environmental problems
today.

Global environmental considerations form the need for

international environmental ethics which is an aspect of global
ethics. The use of the global commons or environment ought to be
controlled by international regulations. Sensibly, the regulation
of the global commons should be based on sound ethical

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principles. One of the ethical and sound ideologies concerning
environmental protection is the so-called “Human-Environment
Systems.“ For one thing, this approach categorically affirms the
significant relation between humans and their natural environment
and other broad implications of this connection.
Globalization and Business Ethics
As globalization is largely an economic concept and system, it is
rational to have a separate section that deals with the issues
and challenges it creates that concern business ethics.
Basically, business ethics is a form of applied ethics that
examines moral principles concerning business environment
involving issues about corporate practices, policies, business
behaviors, and the conducts and relationships of individuals in
the organizations.
Globalization has made the world a global village. Although
businesses grew and the globalized environment has provided more
markets and numerous opportunities, but with it also came various
ethical issues such as duplication of products, child labor,
money laundering, environment issues, and many other business
malpractices. Additionally, sundry business crimes have existed
such as cybercrimes, sexual harassments in work places, and
intellectual property and patent thefts.

Focusing on child labor, it is said that globalization paved the

way for    the existence of this controversial business practice.
Like other ethical  issues (such as homosexuality), the child
labor issue is taken differently in different nations. In Europe,
it is seen as an unethical activity whereas in Asian countries,
it is somewhat tolerated. In many countries, like India, where
poverty is high, children in family after certain age start
working to contribute to family income.

The international company Nike in its Vietnamese factory employs

children. Nike Vietnam, however, provides free education and food
to these children. Fundamentally though, the main reason for
employing children is that it reduces the cost of production
line. Hence, the practice, in many cases, has resulted in legal
conflicts and loss of custom for being seen as immoral.
Globalization as a new challenge to ethics thus requires
incorporating ethics (such as business ethics and environmental
ethics) as part of companies’ strategic business programs and
alliances. Moreover, it mandates top managements to establish
clear policies that encourage ethical behavior. For instance, all
employees who observe or become aware of criminal practices or
corrupt conduct must be encouraged to report the incident to
their supervisors. Furthermore, management training seminars and

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orientation meetings that involve discussion of actual situations
can alert employees to potential ethical conflicts.

With the involvement of business ethics as a part of business

strategic decision-making companies are even expected to gain a
competitive advantage, good will, and recognition in the global
business world. They may attract a good workforce and cater to a
healthy organization climate. All these are anticipated to
ultimately lead to good profits and a healthy competition in the
international globalized business world.

Search for Universal Values

 Evidently, there are quite a number of moral questions and
problems arising from globalization, that is, from global
interdependence and interconnection. To address these ethical
problems, social scientists and philosophers suggest that the
time has come for the world to develop a global ethic, that is, a
set of universally accepted principles that could provide the
foundation for regulating global interactions.
Indeed, a set of shared ethical values and standards is central
for the cohesion of society and for global justice and peace. A
shared set of moral values and principles will make for peace and
harmony at the global level. The philosophical challenge,
however. is that it seems improbable to ascertain normative
principles that will be persuasive across cultures.
Notwithstanding, in spite of these ethical variations across
various cultures, it is still very much possible that basic and
fundamental values hold for every society. Developing universally
acceptable principles, i.e., global ethics for administering
transnational interactions, is possible, for instance, through
the process of intercultural dialogue.

In a globalizing world, it is prudent, for example, to advocate

universal cultural values such as truth, justice, and love.
Situations today also ideally call for working in favor of a
universal spirit of fraternity, a solidary altruistic spirit, a
decided and generous will, and the universal will to live in
peace. In a situation of disequilibrium and disharmony, the
reawakening of the human spirit of love and compassion may save
us from our own worst extremes. Indeed, material wealth ought to
go hand in hand with moral and spiritual wealth
 Globalization Gravely Transforms Us: Here Is How

How Globalization Transforms Human Persons

Globalization reforms relations between women and men, adults and
children, people of different cultures, and those with varying
levels of technological competence.

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Those who view globalization as a beneficial social system state
that it encourages people to conserve scarce resources,
distribute their wealth and opportunities, safeguard each other’s
rights, and work together to further the common good, such as the
long term health and welfare of the planet and its social
foundations on which all our futures depend. People become more
competitive as individualism and materialism characterize
globalizing capitalism.

Cultural globalization
Globalization transforms people’s culture, a very extensive
concept often used to describe the whole of human experience,
including the economic and political. The process called cultural
globalization refers to the intensification and expansion of
cultural flows across the globe. Technically, cultural
globalization is the symbolic construction, articulation, and
dissemination of meaning.
A perceptible aspect of the cultural globalization is the flow of
some cuisines such as American fast food chains. The two most
successful global food and beverage outlets, McDonald’s and
Starbucks, are American companies repeatedly named as examples of
globalization, with over 37,000 and 29,000 locations operating
worldwide, respectively as of 2018. Thus, American sociologist
George Ritzer (born 1940- ) developed the termMcDonaldization to
refer to the principles of the fast food restaurant coming to
progressively dominate not only sectors of American society but
also the rest of the world.
The most common interpretations of cultural globalization are the
thoughts that the world is becoming more uniform and
standardized, through a technological, commercial, and cultural
synchronization proceeding from the West. More and more
sociologists are nonetheless arguing against this thesis.

Some topics under the cultural dimension of globalization include

(a) the development of a global culture (or lack thereof), (b)
the role of the media in forming our desires and identities, and
(c) the globalization of languages.

The development of a global culture (or lack thereof) pertains to

the tension between sameness and difference in the emerging
global culture. There is the debate on whether there is
an increasing homogeneity (i.e., the world is becoming smaller,
and people are all becoming more alike) or increasing
heterogeneity (i.e., the world is fragmenting, and we are
emphasizing our difference more).
Some claim that globalization all the more reinvigorates niche
cultures instead of abolishing them, thereby increasing cultural
heterogeneity. However, pessimistic hyper globalizers argue that

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globalization causes the rise of a homogenized popular culture
which is generally based on a Western culture industry.

For them, cultural globalization is best seen as “cultural

imperialism” which is typically moving towards “Americanization”
of the world. The diversity of existing cultures is said to be
diminishing as the world is being homogenized or ”Americanized”
despite the resistance of some countries.

Optimistic hyper globalizers agree with the rise of sameness in

cultural globalization, but they positively believe that it will
have good results. For instance, some of them hope that
Americanization of the globe leads to spreading out of democracy
and free markets.
On the other hand, Roland Robertson (sociologist and theorist of
globalization who lectures at the University of Aberdeen in
Scotland, United Kingdom) talks about “cultural hybridity” as a
result of “globalization” in which there is an interaction
between local and global cultural traits. Cultural hybridization
refers to the mingling of cultures as a result of globalization,
and the ensuing creation of new and unique hybrid cultures that
are not reducible to either local or global culture.
Globalization refers to the interpenetration of the local and the
global resulting in unique outcomes in various geographic areas.
As a result of cultural globalization, there is less stable sense
of identity among people around the world.

Transnational media corporations

Today, one cannot doubt the crucial role of transnational media
corporations in disseminating popular culture and in forming our
desires and identities. Powerful media facilitate cultural
globalization. Nowadays, media is an enormous commercial market
which is said to amount to creation of a global oligopoly like
the oil. Global media networks are owned by a small group of
transnational corporations, which are said to affect journalistic
integrity.

Assisted by our flourishing mobile digital devices and the

Internet, the leading symbolic systems of meaning of our age—such
as individualism (stresses human independence and individual
self-reliance and liberty), consumerism (encourages the
acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts),
and several religious discourses—can be more effortlessly and
swiftly circulated, and intensely impact the way we experience
our daily lives. Through media and new technologies, cultural
practices are not located (or not exclusive) in a fixed town or
nation. In interaction with prevailing global themes, cultural
practices are also obtaining new meanings.

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Effects to Language
A very significant aspect
in patterns of languages
languages, some languages
while some others are set
of cultural globalization is the change
around the globe. In globalization of
are used in international communication
aside and sometimes vanish.

Some opposing hypotheses exist about the effects of globalization

to language. Some claim that it leads to fortification of native
tongues. In contrast, some forecast the rise of a ”globish”
language. There are at least five variables which influence the
globalization of languages: (a) number of languages, (b)
movements of people, (c) foreign language learning and tourism,
(d) Internet language, and (e) international scientific
publications.

Activity in Globalization and Pluralism

1. Define and explain globalization?

2. What is pluralism in ethics?

3. Identify some important moral challenges of globalization?

4. What are the flaws of pluralism in ethics?

5. Discuss the effects of globalization in Business Ethics?

LESSON II

CHALLENGES OF FILINNIALS AND MILLENNIALS ETHICS

MILLENNIALS• Also known as ‘Generation Y’ or the ‘Net

Generation,’ are the demographic cohort directly following
Generation X.

MILLENIALS AND FILINNIALS• The Center for Generational Kinetics

mentions five generations that presently make up our society and
specifies birth years for each generation as follows Gen Z, iGen,
or Centennials: Born 1996 and later Millennial or Gen Y: Born 1977
to 1995Generation X: Born 1965 to 1976Baby Boomers: Born 1946 to
1964Traditionalists or Silent Generation: Born 1945 and before

MILLENIALS AND FILINNIALS• Millennial are generally the children of

baby boomers and older Gen Xers. •Filinnials is a term used to denote
the Filipino Millennial. •Filinnials’ generation is commonly

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characterized by an increased use and familiarity with communications,
media, and digital technologies

MILLENIALS AND FILINNIALS• seven basic traits are ascribed to the

Millennial: special, sheltered, confident, team-oriented,
conventional, pressured, and achieving

ETHICAL OUTLOOK AND CULTURAL IDENTITY• In the United Kingdom, a

2013 poll found that Millennial were more open-minded than their
parents on controversial topics.• In 2013, a Pew Research Poll
found that 84% of Generation Y favored legalizing the use of
marijuana.

ETHICAL OUTLOOK AND CULTURAL IDENTITY• In 2014, the same research

center issued are port revealing that Millennial in adulthood are
detached from institutions and networked with friends.

ETHICAL OUTLOOK AND CULTURAL IDENTITY• Some authors describe

Millennials’ approach to social change “as pragmatic idealism”
with a deep desire to make the world a better place, combined
with an understanding that doing s or quires building new
institutions while working inside and outside existing
institutions”.

ETHICAL OUTLOOK AND CULTURALIDENTITY• Millennial are also labeled

as the “Boomerang Generation’ or ‘Peter Pan generation,’ because
of their perceived tendency for delaying some rites of passage
into adulthood for longer periods than most generations before
them and for living with their parents for longer periods than
previous generations.

ETHICAL OUTLOOK AND CULTURAL IDENTITY• Concerning beliefs on

ethical issues, most millennial of every religion, race, and
ethnicity support access to affordable contraception according to
a study.

Work Ethics

It is said that where as Boomers are hardworking, idealistic

and committed to harmony and Gen Xers are entrepreneurial, flexible
and self -reliant and comfoprtable with technology, on the other
hand, Millenials are tech savvy, appreciative of diversity and
skilled in multitasking.

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One study concerning generational analysis reveals relatively
high percentages of Millennials who considered some behaviors in
the workplace to be ethical, including.

a. Using social networking to find out about the companys

competitor- 37 %

b. “Friending” a client or customer on a social network -36%

c.Uploading personal photos on a company network – 26%

d. Keeping Copies of confidential documents -22%

e. Working less to compensate for cuts in benefits or pay – 18 %

f. Buying personal items using a company credit card – 15%

g. Blogging or tweeting negatively about a company – 14%

h. Taking a copy of works software home for personal use – 13 %

The widespread use of social networking appears to pose challenges,

as substantial number of Millennial post questionable information
on their personal social networking sites, including the following.

a. Feelings about their jobs – 40%

b. Bad joke told by the Boss – 26%

c. Work on a project – 26%

d. Picture of a coworker drinking 22%

e. Annoying habit of a coworker – 20%

f. Information about the company’s competitors – 19 %

g. Opinion about a coworkers politics -16%

Millennial expect close relationships and frequent feedback from

supervisors. The typically associate job satisfaction with free
flow of information, strong connectivity to supervisors and more
immediate feedback.

INDIVIDUALISM

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 Millennials are habitually painted as the entitled, selfie –
snapping generation. They are said to be class of self-centered and
self – absorbed 20 – something’s. Some however defend them by
explaining that millenials just have more time to be themselves.

Millenials individualism is qualified as the self – focused

time in life. It does not necessarily mean that they are selfish;
it rather means that they have fewer social rules and obligations
and more freedom to be self – directed.

Millenials individualism nonetheless also reflects in their

moral outlook. One study reveals that their generation views
morality as personal and subjective, based on feeling and
nontransferable to others. In other words for them morality is a
personal matter.

Overall Millenials are said to be more individualistic and

materialistically motivated. Compared to other generations, there
seems a “decline in moral values that is based on a culture of
rampant narcissism. Other point to a veritable epidemic of
misplaced over confidence that has turned Millenials into the self-
esteem generation.

Conflict with Parents

Millenials are generally the children o baby Boomers (and

Older Gen Xers). There is a now common observation that Millenials
are often conflict with baby Boomers. For one thing, Millenials
are seen by baby Boomers as somewhat greedy , self – absorbed and
wasteful.

As previously explained, Millenials are perceived to have

tendency for delaying some rites of passage into adulthood and
for living with their parents for long periods of time.
Millenials are seen denying the lifestyle of their parents.

There are some generalizations about baby Boomers and the

Millenials that are more grounded in fact. The following are some
of the major differences between Baby Boomers and Millenials.

a. Millennial are more progressive on social issues. According to

Pew Research Baby Boomers oppose gay marriage by a thin margin.
Whereas a solid majority (68%) of millennial support this form of
marriage. An equal number support the legalization of marijuana.

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b. Millennials as hesitant to identify themselves with a political
party. In the U.S. half of millennials say they are independents,
compared to 27 % confessed to be Democrats and 17percents as
Republicans. Some 70 % approved of President Obama when he was
elected in the highest office, but that support has weakened to
about 50 %.

c. Millenials are less wealthy. Millennial generation is the in

U.S. history to come into adulthood in worse economic shape than
their parents. The unemployment rate for them is higher than it
was for their parents at the same age, and they have higher
student debt.

d. Millenials are reluctant to get married. More interestingly,

when millenials get married, they are more likely to marry someone
of a different race. Back in 1960s les than 3% of marriages were
between people of different race of ethnicities.

e. More Millenials live at home than their parents(Baby Boomers)

did at the same age. In the US more than fifth (22%) of households,
presently have two or more adult generations living under the same
roof, a level not seen since the end of world war 2.

Concerning the last point, it may be considered a symptom of

generation gap (which is by the way normal), but it does not mean
there is a serious war between the generations involved. This is
precisely because it is hard to wage a war when you are living
under the same roof.

Secularism and Humanism

Millenials are less openly religious than the older

generations. About one is four millenials are unaffiliated with
any religion, which is much more than older generations when they
were the age of Millenials. Especially in dealing morality,
Millenials are more likely to advocate secularism and humanism.

Secularism – is basically a non – theistic belief system or a

worldview which does not acknowledge supernatural or divine views
of reality. As such, it includes atheism, agnosticism, naturalism,
materialism, scientism, Darwinism and other ideologies that reject
all spiritual explanations of the world.

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Humanism – is a system of thought which gives emphasis to the value
of human beings and favor man’s thought which gives emphasis to
the values of being and favors man’s thought over faith or
religious doctrine. Originally, the term refers to Renaissance
cultural and intellectual movement featuring the rediscovery of
arts and philosophies of ancient Greeks and Romans. The word
“humanist” is derived from the olden Italian term ‘umanista’ which
pertains to a teacher or scholar of classical Greek and Latin
Literature.

Human Experience as Moral Basis. Secular humanism explains that

moral rules are derived from human experience. For instance, it
claims that we do not have to be religious to realize that to live
in peace and happiness; we must not assault each other. Through
experience, its adherent explain, we understand that thought we may
want to assault, we do not want to be assaulted. Even if sometimes
we are tempted to steal, yet we do not want to be stolen from. And
although at times we are enticed to kill, yet we do not want to be
murdered.

Human Need and Reason. Secular humanists admit that ethics is

conventional but it has a natural basis. For them its natural basis
is not that so – called natural law, nor some law written in man’s
heart or in scripture. The natural basis of ethics they assert is
none less than human need and human reason.

Allegedly, the reason we have reasonable moral rules isa that

we have these needs. Hence, it is claimed that we do not need rules
from God – all we need is to be human, to have the needs we have
and to have some human intelligence or reason.

An Analysis of Secularism and Humanism – By removing God in the

picture, secularism and humanism, in effect affirm that the rules
of morality were just fabricated by human beings using human
nature as the basis of this fabrication. As their proponent
inevitability admit, morality is conventional having human need,
experience, and reason as natural foundations.

However, advocating this view amounts to prospering that

objective right and wrong does not exist at all. Subscribing to
secularism and humanism, it is impossible to really condemn
maltreatment, cruelty or corruption as morally wrong.

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Challenges of Filinnials and Millenials Activity

1. Compare the responses of baby boomers and millenials to shared

morals dilemmas?

2. State some qualities of the Millenials and Filinnials?

3. Discuss some ethical outlook and cultural identities of the

Millenials and for fillinials. Discuss some features of their work
ethics?

4. Do you agree that Millennial and Filinnials is individualist?

Why or why not?

5. What is the nature of moral judgments in secular humanism?

6. Define morality in secular humanist point of view?

7. Evaluate secular humanism as an ethical foundation?

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