What we owe each other, and ourselves
Every action holds within it an ethical choice, even if all one is doing is brewing a cup of tea. The choices seem inconsequential, but add up to shape us, our communities, and our world
There was a time when I imagined myself a vociferous rebel, the kind who might take to the streets to mobilise people. Time has its way of taming the naïve. Today, I am an altogether different person; examining, questing, questioning, but with the lens often turned within.
And lately I have been fascinated by how even the smallest questions inform the ethical landscapes of our world. Consider the act of brewing the tea I start my day with every morning. It is a simple daily ritual replicated across millions of homes.
The younger me didn’t think much about it. The older me has come to acknowledge that the tea leaves arrive through a long supply chain, with all the ethical considerations that this implies. When I zero in on a brand to drink, the choice is a silent but potent statement of my stand on fair pay, working conditions, environmental impact.
I submit that these seemingly trivial decisions hold profound ethical weight at the personal and societal levels. They shape our individual character and, as decisions coalesce into systems, they alter the fabric of the societies we inhabit.
It is thus incumbent upon us to examine the ethical dimensions of our most mundane actions, whether when using the internet, planning a vacation, or picking a fitness regimen. There is no such thing, at least not any more, as the purely personal.
Opting for a garment made under fair
working conditions turns clothing into an endorsement of a philosophy of fairness and equity. Such an approach may shrink the list of available choices. The higher price points of fair-trade goods may narrow one’s options, including how much one can consume. But imagine the collective impact if millions made similar choices. Such actions have the power to transform industries, uplift communities, promote sustainability.
Set purchases aside and consider our interactions with those who offer us services. The disrespect extended to waiters, taxi drivers and housekeeping staff goes unnoticed, by us. But these are acts of profound ethical significance. They reflect a lack of acknowledgment for the dignity of labour and a lack of respect for the service provider’s humanity. Such interactions can create vast divides within communities.
Reflect on our interactions with telemarketers. These are often characterised, on our part, by extreme impatience, even hostility. What if we were to view each call as a moral opportunity, and remind ourselves that there is a human being on the other end of the line, whose workday tragically
involves being rejected over and over?
Declining the offer being made does not require us to decline our humanity.
To illustrate the impact of how our ethical choices multiply, consider the Kudumbashree initiative of the Kerala government. Now a little over 25 years old, it used the cooperative model to offer microcredit to women members. Women contributed to the fund, borrowed from it, repaid their debt, contributed again, and so on.
In the aftermath of the 2018 floods, the Kudumbashree cooperative society contributed to the Kerala chief minister’s relief fund. It ran community kitchens during the pandemic, to feed migrant workers who had been rendered jobless overnight.
The point here is that by choosing empathy, respect and integrity, whether in larger systemic contexts or in actions that may appear inconsequential, we forge a path towards a kinder, more ethical and more sustainable world. Our choices do more than define us. They also define our reality.