Sunday, September 20, 2015

Opportunism

I am a member of a social fraternity and within our fraternity, we have executive positions given to those we see fit. Usually those elected are people who are considered responsible and trusted. It is similar to the idea we spoke about in class regarding being a good samaritan; our vice president has access to over $40,000 and could easily use small amounts of that money for himself and write it off as some expense. The reason why I believe that our vice president does not act in such a manner and does not take advantage of the opportunity is because of the standard of morals he holds himself to. Rather than viewing their position of power as opportunistic, they view it as a responsibility for all. 


Another example of opportunistic behavior that may be more unethical is that of my cousin's father. My cousin who has been very close to me from a young age, is the only person in my extended family with divorced parents. Her father is a taxi driver and by law is required to pay child support until she turns eighteen. However, taxi drivers are able to pocket cash and mark a much more substantially lower amount of income than in actuality. So, her father was paying very little for child support while pocketing an absurd amount. This was very unethical because my cousin's mother is African and knew very little about the legal system let alone have enough money to pursue a lawyer and trial. This is an example of opportunistic behavior because my cousin's father saw an opportunity to get out of paying as much as he should have for child support, all be it unethical. 

2 comments:

  1. One question I have for you reading each of these examples is how you know what you believe you know. If the vice president of your fraternity had misappropriated funds, would that information come to light. Similarly, if your cousin's father generates cash income, how do you know how much that is?

    For the first example, there is an issue of what type of accounting must be given. I'll talk a bit about this sort of thing tomorrow with regard to travel expenses for university business.

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    1. In regards to our vice president, it is indeed true that if he went to far enough lengths he may be capable of misappropriating funds. However, in order to launder the funds it would be difficult as the national headquarters overlooks bank statements and whatnot. With my cousin's father, it is difficult to put a number on the extra cash generated but nonetheless there is still unreported money.

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