An ethical revolution

The President has hosted a major seminar to review the opportunities and challenges faced in establishing a more ethical society. Ciarán Galway sums up his main themes.

“As we approach the centenary of the founding visionary document of our nation, this an ideal moment to set about this ambitious task.” So said President Michael D Higgins during the close of his keynote address at the ethics initiative national seminar at Áras an Uachtaráin.

The seminar was a culmination of over 60 events which had taken place in various universities during the year-long programme, launched last February, designed as an invitation for citizens to engage in a national conversation about ethics. The themes and issues were not predetermined by the President. Rather it was an organic discussion, grounded in “ethical reasoning” (distinguishing between actions which will either enhance or diminish the well-being of others), which aimed to produce better social outcomes. Against a backdrop of global downturn, President Higgins’ vision was for a collective reflection on the structural and moral questions raised as an essential component of learning from the past.

Prior to his election in November 2011, Higgins addressed students at NUIG and affirmed: “I believe that the neo-liberal model of the economy, and of society, which dominated our politics over the last 15 years now needs to be replaced by something very different.” Instead, he ambitiously called for a radically inclusive citizenship and the establishment of a ‘real republic’.

Speaking from his experience of conversations and engagements throughout his presidency and the preceding campaign, Higgins noted that there is a groundswell of demand for a fundamental re-evaluation of dominant values. There is a perception that trusted institutions betrayed the citizenry. Mainstream theories, he contends, have been exposed as having neglected or even abandoned these tenets of social responsibility.

The President maintained that it is not sufficient enough to mask the ruptures of the financial crisis by merely suggesting that more supervision and regulatory mechanisms should be put in place. Higgins echoed a previous speech and stated: “The proliferation of ethical manuals and codes of conduct in the various professional sectors will be of limited consequence if we do not also ensure that their purpose is embraced and understood.”

There is now an opportunity to establish a new set of ethical values to define society. If the chance is not seized, and the assumptions which inflicted damage go unchallenged, the situation will remain unchanged.
President Higgins insists that there must be an examination of the root cause of the crisis that extends beyond accountability or views on specific policy questions. He asserted that established political values are ill-equipped to deal with contemporary challenges. Instead, there must be a radical overhaul of governance to ensure that it is possible to live ethically.

Ethical themes
In relation to economic philosophies, Higgins argues that there is an appetite for a sustainable and secure socio-economic models which are accountable to elected legislatures rather than exposure to financial fluctuations. He adds that, to ensure a stable future, there must be engagement with ethical themes which have become marginalised by financial discourse. For instance, themes identified by initiative events hosted in universities included responsibility in journalism and mass media, the role and duty of professional bodies, the ethical challenges posed by emerging technologies, and the leadership of the State in current socio-economic conditions.

In his view, across Europe, the poorest elements of society have borne a disproportionate impact of the downturn. Quoting Jürgen Habermas, he remarked that these people, unlike the shareholders, do not pay in money values but in the hard currency of their daily existence.

One manifestation of this inequality, coupled with the commodification of social goods (e.g. housing, healthcare and basic education), has been homelessness. Relevant policy has become severed from the ethical values defining the fundamental requirements of individual and family life. These, as he has previously described, include the right to shelter, food, education, a good environment and freedom from fear. Higgins maintains: “The current levels of inequality pose nothing less than a fundamental challenge to the legitimacy of institutions and the morality of the State.”

Likewise, within working life the worker has been relegated from his or her status as a citizen to a unit of labour. This atomised concept of individuals ignores their wider contribution to society, beyond what can be counted or taxed. President Higgins insists that this misconception must be challenged and the worker restored to their fullness as a citizen.

The President notes that there is no greater challenge to the currently established models of economic development than the ecological fragility of our planet. It exposes the impossibility of continuing with philosophies which ignore the human and environmental context in which goods are produced and traded. Ensuring that global food production is sufficient enough to provide nutrition for all people encapsulates this challenge.

Inclusion
Participation in the political sphere is on a general decline across the western world. Higgins stresses that much of the current crisis has been a direct consequence of political decisions being made in isolation from the people they most affect. He described crucial issues being portrayed by the media as having a technical complexity beyond the understanding of everyone except a select few experts from a narrow field. Wider context is ignored and ethical reasoning is bracketed off. President Higgins suggests that a programme to develop “inclusive economic literacy” should be developed to demystify what has been portrayed as beyond the understanding of citizens.

Overall, the President’s ethics initiative has been a conversation between the universities, NGOs and wider society about democracy, citizenship and recapturing the public sphere in order to rekindle debate. It proposes that citizens be provided with the tools to help them effectively participate in debate. While the initiative has now come to a close, a final report is being prepared and Higgins remarked: “The seeds sown, however, will, I hope, continue to take root and flourish into the future.”

In his concluding statements, President Higgins explained that he had sought to “bring an ethical perspective to the centre of the presidency.”