After years of quietly gathering speed, there’s a growing movement to elevate public service to national service and in the process, set up incentives and opportunities that make it easier for each person to help another in need. The goal is to make volunteering as fundamental as voting.... Read full article

We are a nation that pulls itself up by the bootstraps. But are we also a nation that needs to pull up its pants? A 17-year-old Florida boy was recently jailed overnight for violating a local “sagging pants” law after a police officer spotted him riding his bike with his pants slung low enough to reveal four or five inches of boxer shorts. Should government be responsible for telling citizens what to wear?... Read full article

Can we talk? Not if you’re using Slydial. As its name suggests, Slydial subverts the process of calling someone on their cell phone by routing the caller directly to the recipient’s voicemail, giving the “illusion” of communicating without the chance – or risk – of having a conversation. But some question whether a tool that encourages users to avoid direct communication is a responsible use of technology.... Read full article

Approximately 10% of Americans admit they’ve lied to pollsters. In a close election, a 10% false answer rate is more than enough to confuse pundits, confound candidates, and contradict a predicted outcome, especially in the current presidential race. So, do you have a responsibility to tell the truth about who you’re voting for?... Read full article

If you do the right thing, should you expect to be rewarded? Yes, say three men in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The men—all city-employed water department workers—were on the job when they discovered an abandoned safe at the side of a road. The safe had been stolen by robbers who broke through the wall of a local bank during a winter ice storm.... Read full article

Do these pants make me look fat? We all tell white lies, but when we do, are we being irresponsible?... Read full article

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

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

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

When a 40-year-old Chicago advertising executive named Paul Tilley died recently, the cause of death was officially ruled suicide. Tilley, who oversaw the “I’m Lovin’ It” ads for McDonald’s and the creation of the “Dell Dude”, jumped from a Chicago hotel.

But some believe that Tilley was metaphorically pushed by a steady stream of malicious comments anonymously posted about him online in the weeks before he took his life.... Read full article