Ethics, then and now

The roots of my ethics are based on the fact I was raised by hippies. My parents were very ‘hands-off’ about child rearing. I was never once asked what my grades were, if I was involved in drugs, alcohol, or really anything.

The philosophy was that we could do whatever we wanted as long as we were ‘grown up’ enough to accept the consequences. It was very much utilitarian. If we wanted to drop out of high school that was just dandy as long as we were willing to accept what came later in life because of it.

One of the only rules in the Miner home was that “you never screw anyone over to get yourself ahead.” This was more of Kant in my family’s ethical standpoint. We could do whatever we wanted as long as it didn’t keep anyone else from doing the same.

My ethics now are much what they were. One of the only additions is a sense of social criticism. Things can always change for the better and it is the responsibility of citizens to stand up and do something about it.

I am a big fan of the Social Responsibility Theory of the press. I love journalism because it has such a great ability to make change in society. It does a great job of that now but could always be used more in that capacity.