Ethics of Business Leadership

Madison Resnick

Professor Frank Toti

Ethics of Business Leadership 3040

September 21, 2016

Poverty in America

As a reaction from economic crisis and the recession of 2008-09, an excessive amount of Americans collapsed into poverty. At this moment, about 1 out of every 6 people are currently living in poverty. Children’s brain development can be affected by being below the poverty line, considering it is particularly hard for them. This can affect their brain, not only from a potential lack of nutrition, but from unhealthy amounts of stress that can affect their memory and language. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 14.5 percent of U.S. households lack “food security”. People believe that most of the homeless are drug/alcohol addicts, or have a mental disease, when this is no longer true. A good amount of the homeless people today are commonly people or families that are unable to get jobs or afford housing.

Although people are below the poverty line, there’s also many people that are living just on the edge of it, constantly in danger of slipping under it.

Question 1A: Does the existence of poverty imply that our social and economic system is unjust? 1B: Does the concentration of poverty in certain groups make it more unjust and would be otherwise?

No, I don’t think the existence of poverty implies that our social and economic system is unjust. Poverty has always existed, and I believe that in one way or another, it always will. This isn’t a fault of the community, but the fault of humanity. There will always be people acting immorally against others or taking advantage of another person’s failures for a selfish outcome, but this is the fault of an individual. I don’t see the fault in society when it comes to the concentration of poverty in certain groups either; I see it more as the weakness of an individual. Most times, a person’s actions mandate their status and the situations that they are put into. The only real influence...