Ethics In Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'

Ethics, the moral principles that govern a person’s or group 's behavior, are one of the most important lessons to be learned in post high school education. Ethics are what people and companies all over the world are taught to practice in order to create a fair and just society for both the consumer and the business or organization. However, as companies expand and gain more power, the question of what is ethical slowly begins to fade as it is overcome by the question of what is more convenient, cheaper, and will result in the most profit. Thus, creating an advantage to large corporations over the consumer, while allowing for everyone else to suffer at the expense of the earnings of the corporations. Upton Sinclair, the author of The Jungle, …show more content…

While The Jungle was by far Sinclair’s most famous work, what many are not aware of is the fact that The Jungle was initially written as an expose for a well-known socialist newspaper in the country, Appeal to Reason. Although Sinclair once said he were to write the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin of the labor movement”, he did so not by merely speculating what the meat packing industry was like, but by actually experiencing the lifestyle firsthand. Upton Sinclair went to the packing plants himself in order to truly gain the experience of what it was like to work in the stockyards as well as communicating directly with employees, laborers, social workers, and locals to truly grasp what life was like in a place like Packingtown. It was not until Sinclair was able to take all of his experiences in that he was able to sit down and write an accurate and to some, frightful expose of what the meat packing industry …show more content…

With regulations being set and laws enacted, the United States has seen a change for the better within the food industry and for the consumers overall. As a result, as much as a company is willing to cut on cost, without the consumers, every business in any industry will become bankrupt. The power is in the consumer and as long as consumers are educated properly and willing to speak up, there is a bright future ahead. However, because not everything can be seen, it is important to have books such as The Jungle and authors like Upton Sinclair to let people know what is going on and what not everyone is able to see. In doing so, this will raise awareness, create transparency and demand that companies practice ethically for the betterment of the