Ethical Issues In Sao Paulo

Ethics are moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior. They are a part of one’s worldview and greatly affect how one interacts with the world. A typical Brazilian in Sao Paulo will derive his or her ethics from a deistic worldview, which will guide their behavior in regards to ethical issues such as prostitution or poverty. The immense growth of favelas, meaning shanty towns, in Sao Paulo throughout approximately the last 40 years, almost doubling in quantity, gives evidence to the growth of poverty. The population of people living in favelas was estimated to be around 2 million in the late 1990’s. A more recent census report from 2007 showed that the number of shanties within the favelas went from 14,504 to 377,236 since
Now, the government has put in much time and money in order to help the poor. This could hint that they think good works are important, which would reflect on the original Catholic religion in Brazil. However, their methods are not personal nor do they provide long-term help for the people in poverty. Momentary relief would be provided, but then the people will keep needing more help and will have to depend on the government. This neglect of thinking about the long-term effects of their actions on the poor people does not reflect true care of the people based on love. A more religious based worldview, such as that as of Catholic’s, might influence one to act more out of love. Brazil, however, has been shifting to a more deistic worldview, which is not necessarily based on love. Just like cultures throughout the world, Brazil’s culture, based on some evidence, is becoming more focused on “what makes me feel good.” As more of Sao Paulo’s and Brazil’s actions on ethical decisions are examined, one can learn more of a typical Paulastino’s worldview. Another prominent ethical issue in Sao Paulo is prostitution. Brazilians are generally well known for being promiscuous, so it may not surprising that prostitution has been a legalized profession in Brazil since 2000. The Brazilian Ministry of Labor changed
anti-HIV/AIDS funding in 2005 because the U.S. government required all recipients to sign an anti-prostitution pledge. The Brazilian anti-AIDS program employs prostitutes to hand out information and free condoms.” Brazilians, as represented by their government, do not seem to consider prostitution as bad. There could be several reasons for this worldview. Perhaps prostitution is the only way for some Brazilians to get out of poverty or maybe a brothel is the only place they can go to get off of the streets. Or maybe some Brazilians just prefer the life of a prostitute and living for sexual pleasure. Maybe it was the only job they could find. Whatever the reason, the growing popularity of prostitution and brothels in Brazil reflects a certain worldview of the country. Their actions in regards to the issues of prostitution also reflect their overall worldview. Poverty and prostitution are major ethical issues in Brazil. Examining these issues in Brazil and how they have been dealt with can provide insight into the ethics of Brazilian culture and also the ethics of Sao Paulo. The moral standards determining the behavior of a typical Brazilian can be linked back to his or her worldview, which would commonly be based upon deism. A deistic worldview will affect one’s actions when dealing with issues that challenge one to make a moral decision, such as whether