Fair housing

   I found a very interesting article about a lawsuit being brought against M&T Bank for alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Test subjects of all races were sent into the New York City loan office to get a loan for a house. All the actors said they were married with no children and presented their financial statements. The test found that white applicants with lower savings and credit than members of other races were approved for higher loan amounts. Bank employees also tried to steer whites away from buying homes in predominantly minority areas and minorities from buying homes in predominantly white areas.
   I consider myself a realist. I don't believe racism will ever go away on a personal level, Humans need to identify with a group. It's like one of the examples of what makes a person in The Moral of the Story. One tribe may look at another tribe as being unequal to them even if members of their own tribe have intermarried with the other group. I believe there are similar sentiments throughout the world. Also, as Americans we probably will never have an honest discussion about race or racism. There is a prevailing attitude that only white people can be racist. If we have people who are too ignorant to realize what the true definition of racism is, and that all people can be racist, then racism will always be around.
   What struck me about this article is that it was a major bank. One of the questions on my mid-term exam was why do businesses establish a code of ethics? My response was to give employees guidance when making decisions and to avoid possible legal issues. I haven't read M&T's code of ethics, but almost every company I know of specifically prohibits discrimination of any kind. I am assuming M&T does as well. Companies do this because discrimination is illegal and they can potentially face legal consequences. If these allegations are true then it means multiple employees were acting illegally. To me this means that these actions were probably unofficially condoned from higher up the food chain. If so, then shame on M&T Bank. It's one thing for an individual to hold racist views, it's another for a bank to prevent someone from buying a home based on their skin color.

Hannah-Jones, N. (2015, February 9). Housing enforcement group sues m&t bank for discrimination.              Propublica. Retrieved from http://www.propublica.org/article/housing-enforcement-group-                  sues-mt-bank-for-discrimination

     Rosenstand, N. (2013). The moral of the story: an introduction to ethics. New York, NY: McGraw-    Hill

Children not being vaccinated

   I think most people have heard the myth that vaccines are linked to autism and now know that this myth has been debunked. The myth was driven by corrupt science in an effort to win a law suit. Unfortunately, many parents heard about this link to autism and were quick to believe it. This has led to many parents refusing to get their children vaccinated and the re-emergence of diseases that were considered nearly gone from the Western world.
   This topic enrages me because I cannot believe any parent would be ignorant enough to not vaccinate their child. Some children are allergic to vaccines, but if every child who can get vaccinated does, the allergic children are better protected. This is what doctors consider herd immunity. The most recent outbreak is of measles at Disney in California. As of today there have been 59 reported cases. Measles, although not the deadliest of diseases, is one of the most contagious. Doctors have said that in an non-vaccinated population each infected person can be expected to spread the disease to 11 to 18 others. Compare that to influenza, where an infected person will only spread it to 2 to 3 people on average. The reason measles is so contagious is because the virus is airborne and can linger for days. In addition, the incubation period is 21 days so an infectious person can go about their normal lives for three weeks while also spreading the disease. What angers me so much is how easily this could have been prevented.
   I was thinking about the ethics involving this subject. Is it ethical to not vaccinate your children? I don't think so. What immediately came to mind was John Stuart Mill's Harm Principle. Are these parents harming others? Absolutely. They are harming their own children, children who have legitimate reasons for not being vaccinated, and the estimated 5% of the population that has been vaccinated, but do not have full immunity. The potential is there to harm many people.
   I believe not getting your child vaccinated is horrible parenting and unethical. The worst part is that the possible negative effects will be on someone else. The parents are most likely vaccinated. I, and everyone I know in my generation, have been vaccinated. We are just fine and never got any of the diseases we were vaccinated against. The autism myth was proven to be false. Parents, get your children vaccinated.

Fox, M. (2015, February 4). Disney measles outbreak could get worse, experts warn. NBC News.
              Retrieved from http://http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/measles-outbreak/disney-measles-                 outbreak-could-get-worse-experts-warn-n291426