Is It Ethical To Ask For Money?
In Monopoly, a histrion who draws the card that says "Banking company ERROR IN YOUR FAVOR. COLLECT $200" gets to proceed the money.
But what happens when such a mistake occurs in real life?
Kelyn Spadoni, a 911 dispatcher, recently received quite a chip more than the The states$80 she was expecting when fiscal brokerage firm Charles Schwab mistakenly transferred more than $1.2 one thousand thousand to her account, apparently because of a software glitch. When she discovered the extra coin, she promptly transferred those funds to her other accounts and bought a new motorcar and house, amid other purchases.
One could inquire whether information technology was unethical for her to continue the money instead of trying to render it. As a scholar who studies the ethics of debt and finance, I believe the answer is more complex than a simple "yep" or "no."
Yes, we should return money
Consider some other example: Suppose y'all establish a wallet full of cash lying on the ground. Normally, the right thing to do would be to contact the wallet's owner and return it, coin included.
That'south because people have a prima facie obligation to return the property of others. Prima facie is a legal term, originally from Latin, that refers to something nosotros have as correct until proven otherwise. A prima facie moral obligation is one that people normally have, unless there are special circumstances.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle helped to explicate why people normally have a moral obligation to return the belongings of others. Beingness truthful and treating others fairly are key virtues in life, he argued. A good person acts with integrity and a sense of justice rather than being deceitful and greedy.
Spadoni non merely spent much of the money she mistakenly received, but she refused to respond when Charles Schwab contacted her. For a whole month she ignored calls, emails and text messages the visitor sent her. She has since been arrested on charges of fraud and theft, apparently for trying to keep what did non not vest to her.
Other bug to consider
It would certainly be tempting to go along money that does not belong to you, simply doing then is morally wrong when it is quack and greedy. Nevertheless, matters are non ever so cut and dried.
That'southward because prima facie moral obligations depend on particular details of situations. Imagine, for instance, seeing a billionaire drop $10 on the ground. It would withal be laudable to return that coin, merely the moral obligation to exercise and so is weaker than in other cases.
Similarly, it is notable that in Spadoni's case, she received money considering of an error by a large financial establishment. Moral obligations to individuals do not e'er translate to the institutional level, especially when an establishment itself does not care for people with integrity and fairness.
Just since 2012, the Consumer Fiscal Protection Bureau has secured over $12.nine billion in relief for individuals whose rights were violated by financial companies. Information technology would be unjust to hold an individual to moral standards that the financial visitor itself regularly violates.
Prima facie moral obligations tin as well be outweighed by other obligations. Imagine, for instance, that the person who found the wallet of cash needed money to provide housing or medical intendance for their children. Alternatively, imagine that the owner of the wallet was a notorious criminal who would use the returned cash to hurt others.
These scenarios identify additional prima facie moral obligations to intendance for people in need and prevent impairment to others. Doing what is right in real life requires weighing all of the relevant moral considerations.
The instance of debt payments
This is of import because, while Spadoni'south case may announced unique, it is actually commonplace to receive money that belongs to others.
Credit cards, mortgages, student loans and payday loans, for example, are all forms of credit in which the borrower temporarily receives money that is non their ain.
The moral considerations people confront when trying to pay back debts mirror the questions about what to practice with money that is found or received in error.
Prima facie, the moral obligation to pay these debts is credible if we think of a loan as a kind of rental agreement. The borrower gets to use the coin for a time merely is expected to return it later, along with agreed-upon fees or involvement.
However, other moral considerations are also relevant. Personal debt levels are at present at a record high in the U.South., with more than 40% of adults carrying a credit card balance every month.
In an economy saturated with debt, with more than one-half of adults living from paycheck to paycheck, people can end upwards existence forced to choose between making debt payments and getting medical care or paying for rent.
A small number of them can become relief by filing for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy protections are meant to help those whose debts interfere with access to important goods and services similar nutrient, housing, education and medical care. The idea is that debts shouldn't have away people's ability to provide for themselves and their family.
However, a 2005 law made it more than difficult and costly to file for bankruptcy, specially for those who are already backside on bills. Many of the people who would do good from declaring bankruptcy are unable to do then because they cannot afford the legal fees.
Moreover, some of those debts upshot from predatory or outright fraudulent lending and collection practices.
Wells Fargo, for example, was fined $3 billion in 2018 for fraudulently signing people upwardly for credit accounts with fees. And payday lenders operate by targeting people who are already struggling to make ends meet and signing them up for loans they may not be able to repay on time. When borrowers miss a payment, they experience ballooning interest rates and fees, miring them further in debt.
These examples indicate just some of the means in which the obligation to return money to others really is a prima facie obligation and thus ultimately subject to limits in the real globe.
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Source: https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-ethics-of-giving-back-money-that-doesnt-belong-to-you-159497
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