The Responsibility Project

Liberty Mutual

Responsibility. What’s your policy?™

Blog: Ethics

Fight Club Junior

Posted on May 12, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (3)

When two dogs are in a cage to fight each other, it’s illegal. When two children are in a cage to fight each other, it’s part of the fastest growing sport in America: “ultimate fighting.” Read full article »
To Catch a Thief

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (9)

A stranger steals your personal property. Instead of reporting the theft to authorities, you confront the suspect yourself. Your possessions are returned. You bypass the inconvenience of a police investigation and court appearances, and the offender goes without punishment. Read full article »
Cash for Grades

Posted on May 1, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (10)

Education opens many doors. But should the main one be at the bank? School districts throughout the country are increasingly paying students for coming to class, taking tests, and improving their scores as part of controversial incentive programs known as “cash for grades.” Read full article »
Morality Bites

Posted on April 24, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (25)

We’ve watched all things personal undergo very public makeovers on reality TV—our noses, our houses, our cars and jobs and spouses. But something more fundamental may have quietly fallen victim to a makeover as well: our moral identities. Read full article »
Tattletales

Posted on April 22, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (7)

If you knew that all of your interactions with people were being publicly scrutinized—your (rude) driving…your (cheap) restaurant tipping…your (gasp!) dating behavior—would you act more responsibly? Big Brother isn’t watching. But small websites are. Read full article »
Father’s Day

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (1)

Responsibility encompasses a lot of inevitable territory: family, friends, job, and country. But should responsibility extend to forgiveness? Giving second chances? Seizing the moment before it’s lost forever? Read full article »
Shot Through the Heart

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (8)

Like most competitive athletes, in-line speed-skater Corey Gahan hoped fierce determination and hard training would give him the edge he needed to fulfill his dream of becoming the best in his sport. But unlike most competitive athletes, Corey Gahan’s father insisted on supplying that winning edge, regularly injecting his son with steroids and human growth hormone, the same illegal substances at the heart of the ongoing major league baseball scandal. Read full article »
Killer Doctor

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (13)

If your doctor was a convicted killer, would you trust him with your life?

Karl Svensson’s future as a doctor seemed certain when he was accepted to medical school at Sweden’s prestigious Karolinska Institute. Famed for choosing the annual winners of the Nobel Prize in medicine, Karolinska hand-picked its medical students, selecting an elite group best suited for grappling with the ethics of life-or-death decisions and leading lives devoted to saving others. But four months into Svensson’s studies, the 31 year-old’s future became unhinged by his past: would-be doctor Karl Svensson had killed a man. Read full article »
Mandy & Lester

Posted on April 1, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (2)

Responsibility sometimes presents itself in small packages with big challenges. In Mandy & Lester, two charming, quirky kids lead the way in showing us what real responsibility is about. No excuses. No hesitation. No giving up. Read full article »
Samaritan or Killer?

Posted on March 20, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (15)

It’s possible to be a Good Samaritan. But is it possible to be a not-good-enough Samaritan? A Canadian woman was recently confronted with that question when two killers accused her of not doing enough to save a man they had beaten and left for dead. Read full article »