The Ethical Dilemma Of Designer Babies - 1305 Words

Should parent be allowed to genetically engineer their children? : The ethical dilemma of designer babies. Background The idea of designer babies has been present in science fiction literature and films for decades. From Huxley’s novel Brave New World, in which babies are grown in vats and there is no such thing as family, to the 1997 film Gattaca, in which children who are genetically engineered are considered superior and a person’s value is based entirely on their DNA (Molina, 2016). An idea that once seemed like mere science fiction is now, ever closer to becoming a reality thanks to advances in genetics, and the development of a gene editing technology called Crispr-Cas9, in 2012, which uses natural enzymes to target and snip genes†¦show more content†¦The shareholders in this case would be the companies and the scientists offering these services to potential parents. Deontological Perspective Deontological ethics are based on moral obligations, duties and rights. Rules are to guide decision making in deontological ethics. Deontological ethics have a more individualistic focus, as individuals are supposed to be treated with respect and dignity (Sexty, 2011, 7). From a deontological perspective designer babies would be unethical because the idea goes against respect for and the dignity of an individual. The child’s value is no longer based on personality or character, but instead is based on whether their DNA represents the traits most desired in the society in which they live. From deontological ethicist Immanuel Kant’s reasoning this is unethical as â€Å"Each individual is valued, not on what they can do, but on that fact that they are persons. Treating them as means to an end does not give them the individual freedom they deserve. Treating them as an end in itself looks at what would be best for that person† (Nelson, 2009). Therefore because according to Kantian ethics, the unborn are considered persons (Manninen, 2008), they deserve to be treated as such, with respect to their individual desires. As the unborn cannot make their desires known, from a deontological perspective it would be unethical to interfere with the child’s natural development. Additionally in countries, whereShow MoreRelatedThe New Method Of The Creation Of Savior1645 Words   |  7 Pagescharacteristics of their babies. This is the creation of fully-fledged ‘designer babies’. As in the words of Josephine Quintavalle , â€Å"the new technique is a dangerous first step towards allowing parents to use embryo testing to choose other characteristics of the baby, such as eye color and sex†. For this reason, the creation of savior sibling is ethically impermissible since if one supports savior sibling, it is impossible to not support the permissibility of designer babies. This argument is flawedRead MoreSavior Siblings1071 Words   |  5 PagesSavior Siblings The subject of savior siblings is a complex dilemma that encompasses multiple issues. Is it ethical to have a child in order to save another? Is pre-implantation genetic testing moral? Can parents make the decisions for their kids about organ donation? In order for this ethical dilemma to be resolved these questions need to be answered. In the case of Molly Nash, the family was not morally culpable for their decision to have another child to save Molly’s life because AdamRead MoreTaking a Look at Designer Babies911 Words   |  4 Pagesmake babies meet the criteria their parents want. They refer to these as designer babies. The scientists that are starting to create these designer babies are using special ways to do so. They use in vitro fertilization, or IVF, to invent these designer children. During the process of producing the babies, the eggs are fertilized by sperm in a petri dish, which are then transferred into the woman’s uterus. The scientists finally look at multiple embryos to see which one has that â€Å"designer† characteristicRead MoreDesigner Babies Essay863 Words   |  4 PagesDesigner Babies Since the time DNA was discovered, genetic modification has been advancing in our world. Around the late 20th century designing babies became a new topic. Genetic engineering is a powerful and potentially very dangerous tool. To alter the sequence of nucleotides of the DNA that code for the structure of complex living organisms, can have extremely ill effects although the potential benefits can be huge. Today’s advances in gene therapy make it possible to remove bad genes andRead MoreWho Will Be Affected. As The Technology Keeps Progressing,1280 Words   |  6 PagesWho Will Be Affected As the technology keeps progressing, so will the evolution and ideals of designer babies. These ideals will ultimately end up impacting all parties associated in the present society of the world as well. These groups that will be affected span across many generations of people with different morals and standards. The overall group that will be impacted is society as a whole. The expenses of having to see multiple specialists and then to go through operations such as inRead MoreAnalyzing The Dna Of Human Embryos Essay1568 Words   |  7 Pagesa say in what they should have, they are not even created yet. Parents can be eager and obsessed with a child who has the best features and capability to do whatever it is the parents wants them to do. The spread of what citizens are calling designer babies should have limits to what guardians can choose to improve health chances is a right choice but enhancing all a child s characteristics is all wrong. Doctors encourage parents to edit the DNA of their child if it is necessary for the survivalRead MoreDesigner Babies Is Not Far Off From Becoming A Reality1522 Words   |  7 PagesDo you ever think of what the next trend in today’s society could be? What if you found out the new craze was designer babies? As crazy as this sounds, the idea of creating the â€Å"perfect child† is not far off from becoming a reality. Designer babies, according to John Bliss’s book, Designer Babies, is a term used to describe children whose genetic traits are altered by parents or doctors while they are still embryos. Right now, parents don’t have the choice in picking their favorable characteristicsRead MoreMy Sister s Keeper By Jodi Picoult979 Words   |  4 PagesMy Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult beautifully illustrates many different legal, ethical, and moral dilemmas that can accompany a possible terminal illness diagnosis within a family especially that of a y oung family. Ultimately the book causes you to re-examine any stance you may have had between that of what is legally and ethically right and what is morally right. Brian and Sara Fitzgerald have two small children who seem healthy and happy. Suddenly their daughter Kate falls sick, and after manyRead MorePros And Cons Of Genetic Engineering1662 Words   |  7 Pagesonly mitigate hereditary diseases but also extend the human lifespan and above all else create â€Å"designer babies†. This has created a real controversy in the community and thus it is important to outline some boundaries before delving deep into this type of biotechnology. Genetic engineering should for the majority be restricted to only foods, and agricultural purposes, but in severe cases such as babies who are born with a genetically inherited disease genetic engineering may be used to remove theRead MoreHuman Cloning Debate: The Fate of Frankenstein1671 Words   |  7 Pagesindividual had been born from sexual reproduction (McGee, 2000). Will cloning lead to designer babies who are denied an open future? Certainly, there has been a great deal of speculation regarding the issue of designer babies. If one can genetically opt out of obesity, heart disease, cancer, etc., then why not opt for clones that are of a type desired by parents (eye color, facial shape, etc.)? Is this a designer baby? In a sense, this is part of the entire eugenics debate, or the practice of improving

Pros and Cons of Minimum Wage Free Essays

Pros 1. Reduced poverty The minimum wage can improve the living standard of low-income workers, which ultimately reduce poverty. According to the International Labor Office (2005), reducing poverty and working poverty requires both productivity growth and employment creation. We will write a custom essay sample on Pros and Cons of Minimum Wage or any similar topic only for you Order Now The World Development Report 2004-05 also stated that there is strong empirical evidence that creating decent employment opportunities is the best way to take people out of poverty. As a result, the wealth gap between the rich and the poor can be narrowed. The Keynesian argument for minimum wages – this suggests that lower-income workers have a high propensity to consume, and that with the extra disposable income from minimum wage, they will spend a high portion the sum which will be injected back into the circular flow of income. In regions and localities where average incomes are low, a higher minimum pay rate can boost total demand for goods and services and create a positive multiplier effect – but much depends on the effect of a pay floor on how many people remain in work. . Reduced government spending on social welfare Since workers are being paid more per hour, their increased purchasing power enable them to meet pay for their basic needs on their own, without relying on government â€Å"top-up† welfare benefits. Therefore, this can greatly reduce the government expenditure on the social welfare, and the spending can be used in other ways, such as education and medication. Cons 1. Reduced employment of the l ess-skilled workers Implementation of minimum wage can reduce the employment of the less-skilled workers (Neumark Wascher, 2008). According to The Wall Street Journal (2009), Economists for the Federal Reserve reviewed over 100 academic studies on the impact of the minimum wage and found overwhelming evidence that lower skilled and young workers have increased rates of unemployment when there is a higher minimum wage. These workers are laid off as their employer finds that the employee’s labor is not worth the required age, but additionally employers are filling these jobs with higher skilled labor (Garfield, 1996). Additionally, many others pointed out the importance of the entry level jobs and observed that the loss of these jobs would have a negative impact on the development of a good work ethic in young workers (Irvin, 2009). 2. Shift the cost to consumers The increase in the minimum wage has caused many of these small businesses to raise their prices just to cover costs (Messerli, 2009). As labour is a factor of production, an increase in the average cost of labour will push up the unit cost of products. With the persistent increase in the general price level, there will be at a risk of inflation. 3. Difficult for small businesses to survive in the market Some small businesses may find it difficult to survive in the economy because they cannot afford to pay the minimum wage stipulated by the law. It obstructs their chances of growth and thereby hampers the economic growth in the larger context. Though some of these companies would charge higher to the consumers, consumers may eventually decide that the high prices cannot be justified and the small business is forced to close (Messerli, 2009). 4. Shadow labour markets may develop Due to the surplus of labour, more people are willing to work at the minimum price than employers are willing to hire, and it is likely that workers will try to sell their services at illegally low prices. These workers are often, especially in America, illegal immigrants who are hired in favour of tax paying citizens. This will cause a decrease in tax revenue as more workers are not reporting their incomes, and an increase in the amount of unemployment benefits the government will have to pay out. The minimum wage benefits those who are employed at it and disadvantages those who loose out on potential employment because of employers hiring from a shadow labour market. The effect of minimum wages on unemployment will depend on the elasticity of demand for labour. If the demand for labour is inelastic, the introduction f minimum wages will only increase unemployment a little. Job losses may simply be due to the increase in labour cost which would result in a lower demand for labour. **** 5. Distortion to the free market Minimum wages are a barrier to the free market. If the minimum wage is set above the market clearing price, it will result in rising unemployment. Some firms will judge the opportunity cost of hiring an extra employee too high and this may prevent some workers from finding jobs who o therwise would normally find it. In a totally free market, they may be willing to accept lower wages. However, even if the artificial barrier were not present, the action of trade unions would greatly limit the wage reduction that workers would tolerate. Rather than have the entirety of the workers in a union take a pay cut, it is more likely that some will be fired and the rest will continue work at the same wage rate. This means that even in a free market, the offer of lower wages can result in unemployment due to the effect of sticky wages. Equally, in some cases, when wages drop too low, people are willing to forgo employment. This is because the benefits of being employed are hardly greater than the unemployment benefits they would receive otherwise. This is known as the unemployment trap and its result is that even in a free market, if the equilibrium price is too low, unemployment will rise. For the two aforementioned reasons it is impossible to say that the imposition of a minimum wage will definitely cause higher unemployment than if wages were left to the invisible hand of the free market. Reference: Garfield, R. , (1996). â€Å"The Case Against a Higher Minimum Wage†. Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://www. house. gov/jec/cost-gov/regs/minimum/against/against. htm International Labour Office (2005). World employment report 2004-05: employment, productivity and poverty reduction. , p. p. 31. Irvin, M. , (2009). â€Å"Minimum Wage Increase Pleases Workers, But Employers Not So Happy†. Retrieved March 8, 2012, from http://blog. al. com/live/2009/07/minimum_wage_increase_pleases. html Messerli, J. (2009). â€Å"Should the Minimum Wage be Abolished (i. e. Reduced to $0. 00)? †. Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://www. balancedpolitics. org/minimum_wage. htm Neumark, David (Editor); Wascher, William L. (Editor). Minimum Wages. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 2008. p. 104-105, 189-190, 258-259. The Wall Street Journal, (2009, October). â€Å"The Young and the Jobless†, The Wall Street Journal, at A12. Retrieved March 12, 2012, from http://online . wsj. com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574402820278669840. html How to cite Pros and Cons of Minimum Wage, Essay examples

Using Extended Hypnotic Language Patterns free essay sample

Using Extended Hypnotic Language Patterns â€Å"Yes, price is an important thing to focus on and in your position I would be focusing on it too and I have a question for you. As you are focusing on the price of something, getting a feeling about price and listening to your inner advisor, what really is the most important thing about the price you pay? Is it the value you get for your money? Feeling like you were working with a true professional that held your interest as important? Not feeling that you were being ‘taken’ or forced into something? Feeling like you were actually and really a part of the decision-making process? Feeling like you really do have choices? Well, I do to. And that is what I demand every time I go to spend my hard-earned money! So, let’s talk about what you really need and really want and build your car around that. What do you say? † Pattern Interupts Assuming that the product has a massive benefit for the customer in my over simplified world there is only one reason why the customer is saying that they are not interested. This will be because they have not engaged in what the sales person is saying. This will happen because the prospect is running a different train of thought. In even more simple terms they are thinking about something else, they might already have preconceptions about the product, if this is a phone call they may have been engaged in something else or waiting for a different call or other things might have a higher priority. Your objective at this point is to redirect the prospect’s thoughts from what they were thinking about to focusing on the thing you are offering. In short you will interrupt the prospect’s current pattern and redirect them to another path. Here are a few ways of doing this. Core Concepts Before getting into the guts of the examples there are a couple of things that are worth considering. Firstly all these examples need a level of rapport, some more than others. Rapport is outside the scope of this article but I have written numerous articles that you can access about various  rapport techniques. The second thing to notice is that if you want to fix people down a new direction then the easiest way to get them there is to ask them a question that leads them in that direction. Although you also need to note that this only works if they engage with the question, this means that often you will have to break them out of their original train of thought. With these ideas in mind, here are a few ways of dealing with the, â€Å"I’m not interested† objection. Straight Forward Approach Ask Just ask the question, â€Å"Why? † or, more specifically, â€Å"Why are you not interested? This needs to be handled with care as it can sound accusatory so you need some level of rapport. If they give you any reasons you can start to counter them and engage them in a conversation. Obviously my favourite response to any reasons that they give would be a redefine, â€Å"The issue is not the reason you just gave but the massive benefit you will get from the product, let’s talk about what you can get from the product. † If the prospect declines to give any reasons, asks you why you are asking or anything of this nature you have an opportunity. Our response would be something like, â€Å"I am asking the question because you can get (outline the big benefits of the product) and most people are really interested in what they can get. What would be the most useful of these benefits for you? † Have you already realised how I have redirected the prospect to discussing the benefits they are getting from the product in one move? Agreement Frames This is a slightly less adversarial approach that is useful if you don’t have much rapport with the prospect. The first thing to do is to acknowledge that they are not interested. This builds rapport and breaks their expectation; normally they would be expecting you to try and counter the lack of interest. Once you have built agreement you supply a reason for their lack of interest and move them into reasons for getting interested. Here is how the pattern would look: â€Å"That’s right, you are not interested yet (the â€Å"yet† presupposes that they will be in the future), that’s because I have not told you about XYZ benefits that you will get from this product. Which one between X, Y and Z benefits will be the one that you are most interested in? † Presuppositional NLP Questions Here is another approach I like because you can get some very useful information from the prospect. The question is, â€Å"What would you have to get from the product for you to be interested? † I like this approach because if the product will give your prospect the thing s/he is looking for then you have the sale, they just might not know it at this point. Putting an agreement frame in before asking the question makes it even more effective. This would make the question look like, â€Å"I can see you are not interested yet, what does the product have to do for you to be interested? † A True Pattern Interrupt This next approach needs to be used with caution as it is a real pattern interrupt and works on completely breaking rapport. That said it is very powerful as it forces the prospect to ask questions. When the prospect says that they are not interested just respond by saying, â€Å"Interesting† and then laugh out loud at them. The prospect is almost guaranteed to ask you why you are laughing. Your response needs to be something like, â€Å"You get X,Y and Z benefits from this product, people are fighting to get hold of it and you are not interested? † At this point a good pause will get the customer to ask questions about the product. This approach is good for sales people that are chatty, outgoing and like building drama. A variation and slightly more gentle approach is one that I am known for. I start with a phrase like, â€Å"I just need to check that I understand this properly. I think what you are telling me is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I then state the benefits in a massive and compelling way, ending with, â€Å"but you don’t want that? † For example: â€Å"Can I check I have understood this properly? If someone stood outside you house and posted five pound notes through your letterbox for ten hours a day you would not want this? † When they say of course they would want this I have the opportunity to say something like, â€Å"Well let me show you how this product can at least make you that amount of money although you will have to post them through your letterbox yourself. †