Ethics, the guiding moral compass for what is wrong or right, is personalized for each individual. Ethics holds the power to interconnect people and beliefs across a multitude of cultures. This blend of ideas is the reason why the definition of ethics can present an array of answers; therefore, ethics can best be defined as the constant search of looking for the balance of what is right and what is wrong. Elie Wiesel, author and Holocaust survivor, can be seen as one of the most prominent figures of political activism in the modern world.
By publishing his works and experiences that deal with ethical concepts, Wiesel was able to shed a light on the horrors of people’s actions and their moral consequences. Wiesel is a firm believer in how the only thing worse than the harmful action committed is the unwillingness to do something about it. When dealing with morality, speaking out against injustices in order to combat them has great importance in creating effective changes instituted policies and concepts. When one believes that an action is unjust or against the benefit of the greater good, voicing one’s beliefs can make a great difference.
A society that censors their public is limiting the opportunity for its citizens to broaden their knowledge and absorb outside perspectives. sto As the child of Cuban political refugees, Wiesel’s beliefs ring true to me because I have been taught the deep-rooted ideals of taking action to fight for what you believe in. My parents worked actively against their repressive form of government and became a part of an allied youth group who spoke out against the government.
They were quite remarkable and were even the first couple to get married legally by a church in their town; his sparked a revolution as religion was greatly frowned upon by the state administration. When my parents were in their early twenties, they were exiled from Cuba after refusing to stop publicly sharing their thoughts on the government’s unjust actions. They were forced to come to the United States as political refugees. Here they were able to start a new life where they could express their beliefs freely. In this new country, my parents had the opportunity to live without the fear of being persecuted for believing that every human being has the right to their own opinion.
Since in the United States they were no longer bounded by what the government would offer them, my parents went on to open their own remodeling company and my mom was able to receive her degree as a special education teacher. These achievements are clear examples of how people are able to further develop their interests if they are not restricted to the opportunities that a repressive form of government offers them for not having the same principles. These ideals have greatly shaped who I am and who I will become.
I have taken these ideals into my life, which can be seen especially through my adventures as an upcoming writer. I believe writing is one of the greatest mediums for political action. As stated by the United States’ First Amendment, writing allows me to express what I believe in. From an early age, I would always express my thoughts through writing as it helped me to clearly articulate what I was feeling. In the eighth grade | became the Editor in Chief of my school newspaper, The CGPA Times.
Currently, I am the Editor in Chief of my high school’s online newsletter, The Phoenix Flyer. Even though my parents were forced to give up their ideal career opportunities because their ideals did not correlate with those of the government, now I am the one who has the chance to pursue my dreams. My parents’ decision to move to the United States to ensure me the human rights that they believe are ethical and morally correct is one that I will always respect and admire.
This ability to freely express what I believe is something that I value greatly and hope to impart on generations to come. Despite many clear observations made by various entities that every human being holds the right to freely express themselves without the fear of being retaliated against, various oppressive governments still limit the ability of their citizens to challenge the problems they are facing if it goes against the governmental system in place.
For instance, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on December 10th, 1948, which specifically designates Article 19 as the protector of every person’s freedom of expression: “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Additionally, the UDHR proposes that “whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law. ”
This pivotal declaration of human rights concludes with the following: “Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein. Therefore it is clearly established that no one has the authority to dismiss another person’s opinions or belief solely on the grounds that is does not match with theirs. To see countries working together to draft a declaration on what is considered the correct treatment of a nation’s citizens is one of the greatest examples of ethics. This demonstrates how the commonly established moral concept consists of allowing each individual to be entitled to share their beliefs openly without fear of retaliation from their government.
Contrary to the established pillars of freedom of expression, numerous countries still ban their citizens from sharing their beliefs openly; consequently, this creates great limitations for people to speak against injustices. The people who speak out against the established norms are often challenged, jailed, or killed, which causes in difference in much of the public. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) amongst the ten most censored countries in 2015, were Eritrea, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, and Cuba.
These countries place the greatest censorship on their citizens through measures that seem unreal and taken from a best-selling dystopian novel. In these places, the media is government owned with little to no outside influence allowed. Anything that will be published has to go through the government to be approved. With the increasing rise in technology it would seem that public expression should be open to just about everyone.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) states that “the real challenge is to fully exploit the potential of new media while not compromising civil liberties, including the right to freedom of expression, to education and also to privacy. ” Despite these declarations, censored countries still restrict their citizens from access to public information. As someone who believes in an open share of information, I believe these restrictions are extremely unethical. In North Korea, only 9. percent of the adult population owns a cellphone compared to 91 percent of adults in the United States according to the Pew Research Center. In Cuba, only certain government officials have open access to unlimited Internet. Those who manage to gain access to unblocked Internet and use it towards speaking their mind by creating pages such as blogs are often jailed.
The CPJ insists, “Imprisonment is the most effective form of intimidation and harassment used against journalists. ” These tactics and limitations are what cause many people to fear speaking out against their repressive overnments, which causes indifference when social injustice issues arise. Not allowing citizens to be exposed to vast methods of information limits their ability to grow intellectually. These restrictions keeps people provincial, as they do not know anything past what they are allowed to experience. This clearly violates civil liberties and is exceptionally unethical. Taking in these examples and my experiences growing up have allowed me to be unafraid of standing up for not only my rights, but also the rights of those who I see are being mistreated.
As | continue my life as writer, I aspire to denounce injustice whenever I see it arise. As of right now I do this by encouraging my fellow staff members to write of variety of articles, each tailored to their own beliefs. In our monthly online newsletter, The Phoenix Flyer, some of the articles we publish are satire pieces, advice pieces, and personal pieces. Each of these pieces allows the students at my school to voice their own opinion on a topic that they are passionate about.
Additionally, I plan on proposing a special edition issue for “Freedom of Speech” where every writer can have opportunity to discuss what they believe is morally correct and how it relates to published media. Being the Editor in Chief of this newsletter allows me to actively pursue my goal of bringing open information to the public. Every time I put pen to paper, I realize that freedom of expression is the key to combating injustice regardless of any consequences I may face. As Patrick Henry once exclaimed, “Give me liberty, or give me death! “
