Vol. 7   2 / 2002 

                               Soá baùo Xuaân ñaëc bieät

Do hoang Nghia    phutavanthu@yahoo.com  or  nthihoang@aol.com

 

 

SOME BASIC ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR VIETNAMESE YOUTH IN OVERSEA

 

 

Recently, there are nearly 3 million Vietnamese living all over the world, among them nearly two million Vietnamese refugees are living in the USA. We are a minority group in a country where we are warm welcome as political refugees.  We have no power to select ethnic, culture for ourselves but ethnic and culture are powerful effects on us in our daily activity. The value of our ethnic, our culture, our family exerts our behavior in associating with the other racial groups.

 

Human beings are not at liberty to do as they wish because personal actions often inspire consequent reactions and sometimes overreactions that need regulating by way of laws and morals. This basic ethics affect individuals as well as large groups. Facing a dangerous situation forces humans to choose between doing what they freely wish to do (risking pain, suffering, and death in the process) or setting limits on their behavior. Instead, they appear to have evolved from real life situations in which human beings are forced to adapt to threatening circumstances in order to maintain their peace, social courtesy relationship and quality of life.

Morality is sometimes viewed in a negative context because it is associated with self-serving political and religious causes. In spite of this fact, the imposition of rules in the main does not lower the quality of human life. To the contrary, carefully laid out rules have the greater potential to improve its quality. Broadly imposing guidelines through the promotion of statutory laws as well as moral, manner, and customary rule systems, redirects social priorities in an efficient way. In turn, there is an increase in societal organization and efficiency that enhances cultural peace, prosperity, and productivity. Social evolution in this light acts as an extension of our traditional Vietnamese culture that is tight hierarchical organization and efficient survival strategies further the life of many types of organisms.

 

The emergence of ethics and sentiments is therefore an extension of human physiology that stabilizes relationships so that people grow and prosper instead of conflicting to the point of extinction.

In order to build a bridge between the Vietnamese youth and the moral world of right and wrong in a country where we live. This is necessary to illustrate how survival inspires a cybernetic process leading to the rise of ethical systems.  The evolutions of ethical principles here are viewed as an extension of traditional Vietnamese culture to overseas. This derives from traditional ethical thinking touching on linguistic and metaethical aspects of reasoning.

 

What is important to note is how conflicts and potential conflicts act as people to make changes in the way they behave in a society with multiple cultures? Ethical acts vividly illustrate how the forces of human survival in peace and the need for the synchronization of many parts work.

Here it seems evident that successful organic strategies for survival have created extremely complex and efficient hierarchies of order in nature. The principles governing the evolution forces driving the development of moral systems. The nature of moral systems in different cultures, different ethnic are the complexity of our daily moral activity.

 

We are uniting in cooperative strategies to further mutual survival. The rise of ethical principles in this sense is a cooperative effort of humanity that has the effect of optimizing its energies and resources in an ever-increasing dynamic of survival guided by our cultural principles.

How human beings adapt to a hostile environment by changing the way their cultures are structured but we adjust the way we live and we are proud of our culture.

 

To contribute something for a nation where we live, we should have some basic ethical principles to follow through Autonomy, Beneficence, Fidelity, Justice, Non maleficence, Liability responsibility, Four “No”, and Five “Yes” (Respect.)

 

AUTONOMY: To have the right or power of self-government. Principle of autonomy applies to acting in a manner that respects freedom of the other.

BENEFICENCE: Active goodness. This applies to acting in a manner that promotes the growth and well being of the other.

FIDELITY: The quality or state of being faithful. Something to which a pledge or duty binds you. This applies to keeping promises or commitments both stated and implied.

JUSTICE: This applies to treating others fairly, legally.

NONMALEFICENCE: The principle of nonmaleficence applies to acting in a manner that does not cause harm to others or prevents harm to others.         

LIABILITY RESPONSIBILITY: This means that you can be held accountable for the results of your actions.

LOVE AND CARE FOR THE OTHERS RATHER BE LOVED: Love and care for the others as you love and care for yourself.

FOUR “NO”: No drug, No drink, No casino gambling, No whores and no thieves.

FIVE “YES”: Respect constitution of the people, for people and by people, Respect your parents, Respect your teacher, Respect your spouse, and Respect fellowship.

 

Duke Nguyen

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