Morals and Ethics are nothing new to most Americans. We have many codes of conduct in place for various situational environments. While these codes are not all necessarily federal or state laws, they are still obligatory, and consequence carrying. This article will bring to light those responsibilities, and weigh those responsibilities against their consequences. Further it will provide an outlet for reviewing the requirements of conduct in a given position and validate those requirements for the public record.

We can find Moral and Ethical codes of conduct everywhere we look. Each of these codes carries with it a unique set of situational and professional consequences. It is the opinion of this author that by applying these codes of conduct, bringing them to a high level of public awareness, and enforcing their guidelines, Americans can avoid the pitfalls of corporate economics, religious controversy, and political scandals we have been stumbling upon as a nation for decades.

Merriam-Webster Definition of Ethics:

1 plural but singular or plural in construction: the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation

2 a: a set of moral principles or values b: a theory or system of moral values c: plural but singular or plural in construction: the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group d: a guiding philosophy

Corporate Ethics

The Business RoundTable, an institute established for the purpose of categorizing and displaying corporate ethics, has a marvelous page put together showing different codes of conduct adopted by the founding CEO's from over 160 of America's leading Corporations (Their site can be viewed by reading this article at our homepage). They are always collecting new data. Would it have been so hard for the CEO's of Walmart, Tyco, Enron, etc. to find this organization online? The answer is clearly 'no' as a quick Google search for 'corporate ethics' will bring their site up on the first page of results.

PBS has put together a brilliant analysis of what corporate ehtics are, and which ones apply to particular corporations. Paul Solman coducts the three part series online the link can be viewed by reading this article at our homepage.

Religious Ethics

Most Americans are aware that Christian and Jewish Faiths hold certain codes to be required conduct as a practicing member of the religion. Bhuddist, Islamic, and Hindi beliefs also hold their own examples of commandments, or regulations, which they deem divine.

In the hearts of Americans lie many belief systems, and one of the truly amazing things about our country's capatilist organization is that citizens can choose who they work for. If you do not agree with the belief systems of your employer, and you feel that their belief systems falsely represent you, in this country, you have the right to seek employment elsewhere. The Constitution assures us of our rights to the freedom of Religion, and so you may apply religios ethics in your life or not as you see fit, as long as in applying your religious ethics, you do not violate corporate ethics or Citizens Rights. There is no reason that religious ethics cannot work in accordance with corporate ethics, and further in congruence with congressional ethics for those in the public office.

Congressional Ethics

Both houses of the United States Congress have strict codes of ethics which are dutifully and often enforced. There is a large body of material available on incidents in the past where a member of Congress has been sited or further penalized for a lack of ethics. The United States House Of Representatives' code of conduct and the Senate Select Committee on ethics can be seen at when you view this article at our site.

Legal entities, such as Lawyers, Judges, and yes, Supreme Court Justices, are all held to the most strict of ethical standards. The American Judicature Society has a site on Judicial ethics, which can be seen by reading this article at our site.

Cornell University has also put together an excellent summary of these codes of conduct also linked on this article at our site.

Judges, Congress, and the President are all held to the standards put in place by the Constitution and it's Amendments as a foremost code of ethics in American society.

To conclude, one must only execute the outlined code of conduct for a particular situation in order to preserve one's ethics. There is no need to invent a code of conduct when one is already in place. It is not only irresponsible, but unacceptable to remain ignorant of the fact that codes of conduct exist and are obligatory. Understanding these codes comes with no more difficulty than understanding the basic differences between right and wrong. Acting upon these codes establishes your ethical record, whether for the better or the worse. As an elected or appointed official in the realms of corporate economics, religion, or politics, your ethical record is the most important factor for qualifying your performance in the eyes of the public. It is your trust factor, your word, your oath. If it cannot be trusted, than neither can you.