Ethical Issues In The Movie The Golden Rule

“Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” This ethical guideline is known as the Golden Rule. This same rule is the same in the Christian faith, Islamic faith, Buddhist faith, Hindu faith, and many others. The general idea is always the same. It’s the wording that changes, never the message. Does following the Golden Rule make actions ethical? What does make something ethical? This is the question that everyone has to ask themselves, but the truth is everybody finds different things ethical. Ethics are the moral principles recognized by each individual. The Firm follows the life of Mitch McDeere as he pursues his career as a lawyer. He gets his dream job that pays more than enough, provides housing, and even a car. Little did …show more content…
At this time in the movie Mitch and his wife are settled into their home and Mitch has just figured out that the firm he is working for is stealing money and carrying out many illegal actions. He has also just figured out that all employee houses are wired, so the company can monitor behaviors and actions of all lawyers. The company believes this is ethical because they are doing it to keep the company and business partners safe, but in reality it is a huge invasion of privacy. Applying the Principle of Veracity to this issue is a good way to analyze it. The first step in this principle is to figure out intentions and the company did believe that they have good intentions of protecting the company. Even though the secrets they are keeping are illegal the company believed they were helping by protecting those secrets and employees. The second step of this principle is to look at all available options. This is where the wiring of houses takes an ethical downturn. The company should have found a more ethical way to make sure the company’s secrets are safe. They should have put some more trust in the lawyers of their firm. The third step is to talk to peers about the action about to be carried out and in this case the boss of the firm did consult with his other partners. The last step of the Principle of Veracity also shows that this action isn’t very moral. This step includes finding out how the members of a broader community would see the action. Other people and communities, considering the action being carried out is illegal, would most likely not see this issue as moral. The Golden Rule is a good guideline to follow in this situation. The bosses of the firm should have thought about their actions better. Would they want their every move to be watched without knowing it? Would they want their whole personal life to be monitored by others? The answer is probably no. Nobody in their right mind would want