The Rules About The Rules By Stephen Carter

Any conscious person who has taken a recent American history course will legitimately question both the morality and ethics of the United States. While morals refer to an individual's or a society's belief of right and wrong, ethics refer to the morality of the actions of an individual or a society. Albeit morals and ethics share a significant relationship, they are not interchangeable in this distinction of belief and behavior. In an integrous world, people would behave based on their beliefs. While most Americans claim that they regularly make ethical decisions based on their morals alone, the reality is quite different. There are numerous influential factors toward this trend of Americans from voluntarily choosing to go against their
Young generations raised by this culture are filled with the ambition of the American dream, which promises success and security to everyone in exchange for hard work alone. When reality falls short of this ideal, people are more inclined to bend the rules to obtain what they deserve. In his chapter, "The Rules about the Rules", Stephen Carter indicates that Americans "care far more about winning than about playing by the rules" (180). Although Americans have a competent understanding of morality, their moral integrity is placed secondary to success. As a result, Americans are willing to justify unethical means of achieving their desired goals. With this in mind, Carter defines "corruption" as "getting away with things we know to be wrong" (188). As immoral acts become routine, an individual's unethical behavior will become reinforced. In effect, the significance of morality rooted in these individuals is undermined, leading to acceptance of frequent or large unethical behavior. In view of the article, "A Whole Lot of Cheatin' Going On", Mark Clayton claims that easy access to the internet is a leading contribution to the surge of cheating by college students (208). These dishonest tools include scholarly plagiarism from online texts and the use of problem-solving algorithms. Thus, as opportunities to advance oneself arise, many people will overlook the ethicality and act on convenience.
Although Americans have a good sense of morality, the demand for success causes many to abandon their morals when making significant decisions. When there is a conflict of interest between morality, people are often more willing to perform unethical tasks as opposed to hindering themselves. Not to mention that moral people can still make unethical decisions in certain situational circumstances. American culture has shown to accept immoral behavior against a nonperson. The individualism embedded in American culture frequently leads to conflicts of morality. When it comes to morals and ethics, American culture is rooted in hypocrisy.Works