What ever happened to social responsibility?

Ryno

Ryno

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I'd like to hear opinions on this. Hopefully this topic isnt too much to handle for NSG...
 
Thats the point.

What do you think of when you see this statement.

What is social responsibility to you?
 
doing what you believe is right and not warping other peoples judgements to match your own? Obiding set rules to a point and not neglecting people you think are below you?
 
Social responsibilities to me are what our moral obligations to the people around us are.

I don't know like I just read this article on social responsibilities in business and the issue of the Nestle case.  

 
Asking what it means, or what i think about it, and what happened to it are two different things.. but here goes..

social responsability to me is what a company, or the government owes the people, or society in general... such as, does a corporation owe anything to the people who work for it? other than pay for their duties? or... do they owe anything to the people who DONT work for it? such as charity funds, or paying extra taxes depending on the size of its capital.

In my opinion, I think all corporations, as well as the government have a social responsability.. for they are the authority, and if you are an authority, and you want to keep that authority, you must keep the people happy. If the people are not happy with the way a corporation, or the government handles things, then there can be a boycott, or overthrow of that authority... its time tested and proven, that the people will rise up i they are not happy.. so yeah. every entity has a social repsponsability.

 
i think thats just a place it often comes up and is the easiest way to describe/define it.  to me its more about moral ethics and things like cosmopolitanism.
 
I disagree that social responsibility is dead.

I'm taking a course held by the Red Cross right now, focusing on the Boundaries of War regarding basic humanitarian law. There's a ton of dedicated people in the world that really care about humans and the world itself. I just think it just takes quite a bit of effort to look around oneself and say "you know what, fuck this. I need to learn about the shit that's going on in this world. I owe it to myself."

I'm not so sure I really want to develop on this thought, but this quote probably sums up the sentiment you have with your post ryan and I wanted to share it...

"I've only met about 13 people in my life who can see anything beyond getting drunk, taking drugs, having sex, earning money, spending money, and perpetuating their own existence in order to continue the above; there has to be something more. And it's our responsibility, as sentient beings, to show it."

I think there may be something fundamentally wrong with the human condition that inhibits people from caring about the world around us, and I don't know, all you can really do is do what's right, not expect others to join you. At very least they'll see what you're doing, and maybe reflect on their lives a bit...

This thread might just seem like it's not rolling, because it's a huge thing to uncover and try to disect. People, myself included, feel fucking horrible about the shit that goes on in this world, so it can be hard to have hope, let alone enthusiasm, for change.
 
Social responsibility is when the population overpower the government. That what democracy is, a voice from the people to the people by the people. But when power expands, people become greedy and want power for themselves. So social responsibility is keeping the government on track.

It is also making sure that the peers have justice and safety when needed. Everybody should be looking our for each other. If a criminal is loose, social responsibility tells us to commit to the search to help the ones in need;like a beggar looking for food.

So what happened to it? Although my first are very left winged, I think it dissapeared due to fear and laziness. Fear, because people believe that helping others would harm themselves, like performing CPR. People are obsessed with personal safety. Media warns everyone about everything, calling people extremely dangerous when they have not harmed anyone yet. Laziness because why go out of your way to help, when you have the means to help yourself. He live in an age of triviality, were all has become objects, eve our own bodies. I feel that people has lost the sense of social responsibility.

 
I agree Laura.

I wouldnt say its dead either but it is definitely a lower priority today then it used to be.

I blame it on the size of urban centers. There is so much going on that you cant form a comfortable environment with the people around you because, well, there is just to damn many of em.

I see a lot more social interaction and commitment in small town fringe communities which leads me to think that its the population that is the deciding factor.

 
Perhaps, but if you look at cities in Europe in metropolitan areas, they are very conscious of environmental concerns, the mental environment, healthcare, homelessness, poverty and a ton of other issues.

I think it must be more of a cultural thing, than a population density crisis. Of course, when a large number of people cultivate, priorities become shifted, but with a huge city of like minded individuals, things like homelessness shouldn't be the issue that it is.

Certain cities in the world have recycling programs and educational resources that would blow a vast majority of small communities out of the water. Cities have greater access to resources and technology than small communities do, and I almost feel that if any change in the world is going to happen, it's going to start in cities. It already has. I mean, I live in/near the outskirts of Vancouver. Every public garbage can has slots on the side of them, to put bottles, to allow the homeless to collect them easier. To me, that's social responsibility. Whereas I lived in Whistler for 6 months, and they did not even have a regular recycling system. Small communities may be more aware of certain issues, but they certainly don't have the resources and interest to create any infrastructure to support their ideals.
 
im just throwing it out there... but this social responsibility seems really important to you.

i just think of community sevice and helping old people crossing the street.
 
no i disagree, the social responsibilities of a buisness in a society like ours, capatalist, is to be productive, make money, spending money on other things aka charities is for people to do on their own, 

 
social respo = morality... it's all opinion derived from cultures. if it is important to you in your day to day existence then heed the call otherwise, who cares?
 
what you are describing is descriptive objectivism which is the belief that there are some (at least one) moral standards or norms that are common to all cultures.
 
I think you make a very valid point here. Having the resources to be able to contribute is key. While small towns/communities have the right idea, it's hard for them to formulate programs when they don't have the advantages of a city.
 
This is a very interesting topic in my opinion.

My thoughts are it doesnt need to be so much a responsibility but common sense on a personal level such that if u see a friend or even a stranger in need of help and it is within your means to do so WHY NOT?

As far as businesses go and yes this is a very pessimistic POV but I feel it is so fake and and forced if it wasn't for the good PR they get out of donating they wouldn't be doing. How many huge companies throw millions of $$ at charities without letting us know about it on billboards and TV adds. Very few if any. I don't view that as social responsibility its simply just good business.
 
and this is where hte karma system is at flaw. its annoying as fuck to see everyother person say something completly retarded a bout how they are taking off karma. just do it, not everybody needs to fucking read it.
 
its really quite simple... (in the US)

the democrats gained popularity and started winning elections
 
its not, i was just making an example.

Oh, and I know i'm a bit liberal on my take with the subject... but thats my opinion. eat it fooo
 
It's not just small communities. Calgary, 1.2 million almost, doesn't have a home pickup recycling program. The vast majority of people here don't recycle at all. I cringe every time I see someone throw a pop can in the garbage. That's the vancouver in me. People are aware, but lazy. Who wants to drive their recycling to the local deposit centre? Not many, that's for sure.

And then in South Africa, even if you did want to recycle, you can't. There is nowhere to take in your bottles and cans. This isn't particularly related, just an fyi.
 
to me, social responsibility means being a positive asset to the community, if even in a passive manner. and i do think that it has gone somewhere, but it's not far off and would not be hard to bring back. simple things like helping someone that's having trouble carrying something or even just smiling and saying goodmorning can do wonders to someone's mood and then society can benefit as such.
 
oh and to the thread. social responsibility = bringing more to the community than you take from it. positive balance.
 
It depends on your definition of social responsibility. If you are talking about morality and ethics, simply defining a universal set of those have stumped humans for basically all of our historical existence. But I think you are talking about something along the lines of social justice, such as helping out those less fortunate than us, taking care of the environment, and encouraging civic responsibility. So here goes my answer;

Social responsibility is alive and kicking, at least in my situation. I am in my first year at college, and I'm impressed by the amount of people who seem to truly care about "social responsibility." But although social responsibility seems, to me, to be on levels it used to be, I would argue that the shitty problems of the world have increased by a bunch in the past five years or so. There are some humans who truly want to help fix the problems, but the majority of humans are fucking things up too fast for the minority to keep up. This may be why it seems to be dying to you. It probably also depends a lot on where you are, and probably on your political views too.
 
Ryno you have a social responsibility to quit posing as a girl, I mean just think of trauma you are going to cause when someone from here tries and hooks up with you. Do you not care that you might turn that person into a serial rapist becaue of your enticement. What the hell ails you? negative karma for you, you are not a good and responsible person.

okay okay.. so I stand corrected, how awesome that you have came out of the closet. That you are letting everyone know that inspite of your external appearance that inside, you are really a woman. WOW.. Thats a responsible thing. let everyone know your sexuality, up front! hehehe
 
How can something that isn't alive have social responsibilities or morals?

Don't mix government and corporation in the same sentence. I hope to god you don't think a corporation should be an authority. A corporation is simply an entity in a market, an entity which is controlled by the people in that market. By no means does this mean that the corporation should or can have any responsibility. Is this bad? That is quite openly up for debate. The board of directors, CEO's, and stockholders are the ones with a social responsibility. They are the ones putting thousands of people out on the streets to compensate for a financial burden or in the opposite case opening new branches to bring in workers.
 
I think corporations can very well have social responsibility, and thus, a inherent call to act moral. Though they are not one solidified entity, they are formed of individuals with an overall alike goal. Each of these individuals has a individual morality and social responsibility. However, much is lost in the translation between the individual and the conglomerate. Morals and responsibility can be lost in the removal of an actual face from an entity holding power, and thats one way to reason why corporations can become overbearing and thirsty for profit so easily. Though made of humans, they lose the human face, and also the associated morals and responsibility that every person has.

Just because its lost so often should not mean every corporation should just accept this disconnect as a fact of life however. It should be every companies goal to maintain its human face and continue to act responsibly, with morals.
 
Something that's interesting in this thread, is that people are confusing responsibility, with moral ethics and beliefs. Social responsibility isn't necessarily being a nice person and having people like you. It doesn't mean becoming a vegetarian or a tree hugging hippie. It doesn't even really mean recycling and just doing what you're told is morally "good."

All it really means, is you accept your role to contribute to society, not take away from it. You are aware of the world around you and realize there's more out there than yourself. Corporations definitely have social responsibility, otherwise we wouldn't be as appalled as we are to issues like unhealthy body images created by the media, oil spills from ships, toxins released into our rivers, acid rain resulting from huge steam towers, etc.

If one lives in this world, one feels accountable for his/her/its actions and the resulting effect on society as a whole.

That's all social responsibility essentially entails.
 
Right, that's exactly what I'm saying. I'm using it AS the conglomerate. I know exactly what you're saying. It is the individual inside of the corporation who has to make these choices. Corporations don't have an owner where they CAN take responsibility for the actions like a proprietorship does. Instead the responsibility now brings in ethical choices that are usually looked over because of the diluting moral problem inside of corporations.

It should be, but unfortunately it isn't. In a place where people feel numbers are more important than potentially ruining someone else's life by firing hundreds or thousands of people, it's quite difficult to retract the negative direction our corporate visions are headed in. But, for every reaction there is an equal but opposite reaction.
 
Precisely. Once again, I'm in complete agreement with you.

Perhaps is might be interesting to look at the companies that have still maintained their more humanistic qualities. Does anyone want to suggest one? Are there any?
 
Its a tricky issue.  In my opinion, the goal of corporation and business' is solely to increase profit to a maximum.  Social responsibilities don't usually come into play no matter how much you'd like to think a corporation is out to do good for anything other than its own income.  Social responsibilities CAN be tied in to it, though, when a corporation is  located in persay a small town.  In order to maximize its OWN profits (the one goal of a corporation), it may have certain social responsibilities and obligations towards the community outside of it just to limit opposition and conflict. 
 
Social responsibility is voluntary; it is about going above and beyond what is called for by the law(legal responsibility). It involves an idea that it is better to be proactive toward a problem rather than reactive to a problem. Social responsibility means eliminating corrupt, irresponsible or unethical behavior that might bring harm to the community, its people, or the environment before the behavior happens.

.........................wikipedia
 
fedex will own the fuck out of your ups union labor pussy ass.

and if you dont work at ups,, your just that much more pathetic for thinking it would be a cool icon. ups is a bunch of lazy homos who take 2 weeks to deliver a package for the same price that fedex delivers in 2 days
 
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