Question

Post your comments concerning the following quote: . "What an insidious thing is this culture amidst which we live. It permeates our environment, and we think we are being reasonable and logical when, all too often, we have been molded by the ethos, what the Germans call the zeitgeist, or the culture of our place and time. Because my wife and I have had the opportunity to live in 10 different countries, we have seen the effect of the ethos on behavior. Customs which are perfectly acceptable in one culture are viewed as unacceptable in another; language which is polite in some places is viewed as abhorrent in others. People in every culture move within a cocoon of self-satisfied self-deception, fully convinced that the way they see things is the way things really are. Our culture tends to determine what foods we like, how we dress, what constitutes polite behavior, what sports we should follow, what our taste in music should be, the importance of education, and our attitudes toward honesty. It also influences men as to the importance of recreation or religion, influences women about the priority of career or childbearing, and has a powerful effect on how we approach procreation and moral issues. All too often, we are like puppets on a string, as our culture determines what is 'cool'”. David R. Stone

Answer 1

Our culture tends to determine what foods we like, how we dress, what constitutes polite behavior, what sports we should follow, what our taste in music should be, the importance of education, and our attitudes toward honesty. It also influences men as to the importance of recreation or religion, influences women about the priority of career or childbearing, and has a powerful effect on how we approach procreation and moral issues.

It’s true that culture influences our lives and makes it different from others. Ethical conduct in our behaviors is necessary to carry forward our culture. This is a hard truth and most of the people lag behind in this field. How? Ethical conducts are complex. They differ from organization to organization and society to society. They change with the changes in technologies, human behavior and the needs. Let’s say, something which is ethical in one country can be unethical in other country. Ethical conduct is very important for every society, government or business and to follow the cultures that our world develops. It helps direct the individuals, organizations and government to play their roles in a well planned and organized manner. This leads to peace and stabilization in the economy. Ethics are the guidelines that if everyone follows, can help us all in a better way and several problems can be solved with the use of ethics.

Take for example; In California the culture follows a top two tier system in which they don’t have individual parties. They have placed the entire candidates in a single ballot and Third party candidates were not allowed to enter the system. Now this being a ethical and best culture for them can be opposite for other countries.