Jacob Norton
Business Ethics, 2013
H.B. Fuller and the Street Children of Central America Analysis:
It is morally acceptable for H. B. Fuller to produce and sell its Resistol products?
In this case study analysis paper, I shall argue the production and selling of Resistol
products in Central America by the company H. B. Fuller is a morally acceptable action.
According to the utilitarian theory that deals with moral decisions, the relevant facts that support
my decision are as follows. First, the ending of the production and selling of Resistol in Latin
America would take a terrible toll of the economies of Latin American countries. The products of
Resistol are not only utilized by countless people in Latin America when working in leather
shops, furniture factories, shoe repair shops, and carpentry settings, but the termination of the
production of the glues would also cause countless people who work in the factories to lose their
jobs. Those who work with the glue regularly would have to hope to find another glue product
that performed just as well as the Resistol glue, which is known for its rapid setting, strong
adhering abilities, and incredible resistance to water. Also, those who work in the factories that
produce the glue would lose steady, secure jobs that their entire families may depend on to keep
food on the table, a roof above their heads, and a livable environment for them as a whole. Job
opportunities are not the most abundant in Latin American, so for many families, a family
member’s job at one of the Resistol factories may potentially be the only source of income the
family has.
Secondly, this glue, while it may not be beneficial for the children to inhale by any
means, serves as the only escape these children have from reality. The street children of Latin
America live in condition people in America could hardly imagine, with violence everywhere,
food essentially nowhere, and traumatizing occurrences happening wherever they look, including
sexual abuse, illegal detentions, rapes, beatings, and murders. Here in America, a person can deal
with a rough day and essentially escape from reality for a while in numerous ways, such as going
for a walk, watching some television or a movie, spend time with their loved ones, or just
relaxing in the comfort of their home and reading a book. These luxuries are nowhere to be
found for the children of Latin America. Television and movies are still a fantasy for most.
“Homes” for these children are a cardboard box, if they’re lucky, and loved ones for them, if
around at all, are dealing with the same, appalling situations they are. Going for a casual walk
can even be seen as committing suicide with the conditions they would be walking through. With
this glue, they are able to be free. They can imagine anything, be anything they want, forget
about their worries, and simply feel safe from the troubles taking place all around them. Also,
while it may seem inhumane in some respects, this glue can serve as a permanent escape from
the children’s living situations. With the affects inhaling glue has on the children, their lifespans
are shortened significantly, enabling them to “leave” their nightmare forever when their time
comes. With resources being scarce already, and life being hell on Earth, these kids are able to
have some pleasure and happiness with this glue while also working their way to a better place.
From another perspective, there are some facts that oppose my moral judgment. The first,
and most obvious one, is the harm that inhaling the glue is causing these street children in
Central America. Simply occasional inhalation of the toluene based glue leads to nosebleeds and
the formation of rashes around the face, which all leave the children exposed to numerous
infections, especially when living in an environment where cleanliness is not a top priority to say
the least. Prolonged use of the glues as an inhalant can result in the death of nerve cells in the
body, brain atrophy, severe neurological dysfunction, muscle atrophy, loss of kidney and liver
function, and the loss of sight and hearing. Considering most of the children do not causally take
a sniff from time to time, the children are taking away all motor function from their bodies by
inhaling the glue, and making themselves lifeless beings.
Another factor that could make the production and selling of this glue morally
inacceptable would be the income amounts H. B. Fuller makes off of Resistol glue. In 1995, H.B.
Fuller had a total profit of $392 million dollars from the production of all its products throughout
the world. From different reports that have been put together, the company makes fifteen percent
of its sales revenue from operations in Latin American, which in turn account for twenty-seven
percent of its profits as a company. At the same time though, the company has also reported that
only $450,000 come from glue sales in Central America, suggesting that the either the numbers
they have been publishing have been skewed all along, or that the company really does not make
much money at all off the production and selling of Resistol glues in Central America. If it is
true that the company only makes $450,000 a year on glue sales, which is less than one percent
of its total profits, there would be no reason why the company should contemplate not shutting
down production, numerically speaking.
In the final analysis of this situation, from a utilitarian point of view, the evidence
supporting the production and sales of Resistol glue in Central America outweighs that opposing
it. While the glue causes detrimental effects to the children using it, and the numbers related to
glue sales in Latin America seem to be a bit suspicious, one must step back and look at the big
picture. In economies that are already struggling, with over a third of the people in Latin
America living below the poverty line, eliminating the production and selling of these Resistol
products could actually do more harm than good, and make the situation even worse. Many
people depend on these glue products for their jobs, whether it’s producing or using them for
their profession. Without this glue, they would be out of a job which, depending on their abilities
and upbringing, may be the only job they know how to do successfully. Just because the children
of the street want to use the glue to escape the brutal realities they are faced with every day does
not mean that the people who use the glue for its intended purposes should also suffer. If people
feel the need to get high, they will always find a way to get their fix, and eliminating a product
that serves so many purposes for people around the world is not the answer.
According to the natural rights theory of morality, the termination of the production of
Resistol products in Central America would violate numerous rights that the people of Central
America have. As aforementioned, the termination of the production and selling of Resistol
products would take a significant toll on the economies and people of Latin American, creating
even more poverty and taking away many people’s only source of income. Through doing this,
the people’s rights to life, security of the person, food, clothing, housing, and work would all be
violated. By taking away either the jobs the people have in the factories, or taking away the
products people need to simply work at their profession, the right to work is being taken from
these people in a cruel and malicious way. Without an income from his or her profession, it then
becomes incredibly difficult for a person to obtain any form of food, clothing, or housing, which
is what the people would experience if they lost their job and were forced to live in poverty due
to the production of Resistol glues ending. To obtain any of these, a person would have to resort
to illegal, dangerous, and potentially violent means to simply attain a portion of what they would
need to live a reasonable lifestyle. When these three aspects become absent from a person’s life,
the ability to simply stay alive becomes one of the biggest struggles of all, which is also directly
related to a person’s right to a sense of security. Using the survival “Rule of 3’s,” a person can
only last three days without any water, and only 3 weeks without any food. If the economies in
Latin America were to take a turn for the worse with the closing of these Resistol factories, food
and water could both become scarce resources for the people living there, and in turn taking
away their right to simply live as a human being. Risking their lives on a daily basis to stay alive
would take away the sense of security they had while safely working on their jobs or in the
factories.
For the children using the glue as hallucinogens, the right to the security of the person
would also be violated. All people, no matter where they be living in this world, have days that
just do not fare well for them. For some it may be school, others it may be work, and for others it
may just be because of the way a friendship or relationship it going. Everyone also needs an
escape or release from reality time to time because of these occurrences. For these children of
Central America though, this glue serves as their escape from the harsh reality they are face with
each and every day. In an interview done with one of these children, it was learned that the child
was able to experience his mother caressing him in her arms. He is able to experience love,
kindness, care, and security when he sees her. In the dire situations these kids live in, feeling any
sense of security is priceless, even if it is done through the use of hallucinogens.
There are, of course, other natural rights that can be seen as violated by the production
and selling of the Resistol glue products. One of these would be the right to the freedom of
movement, internally and externally. As stated earlier, the use of these glue products leads to the
destruction of fatty tissues around nerves, and eventually the death of these nerve cells. Without
operational nerve cells in a person’s body, the ability to function becomes very limited for the
person with the damaged cells. Motor function diminishes drastically, reactions to environments
decrease immensely, if there are any at all, and a person’s ability to communicate with others,
becomes fairly limited. By using these glue products, the children are in essence trapping
themselves inside numb, motionless corpses with no ability to move anywhere.
With this inability to move, it can also be deemed that the glues are taking away the
children’s right to life. Especially in the environment these children find themselves in, mobility
can be crucial to any chance these children have to survive. They must search for their food,
migrate from shelter to shelter, and escape from the countless dangers they face daily. Without
this ability, they are sitting ducks just waiting to be devoured, figuratively and literally, by all
types of predators. Taking the glue away from them could enable them to retain any movement
they are given at birth and enable them to fight to survive in the hell they call home.
In the final analysis from a rights theorist’s point of view, producing and selling the glue
is morally acceptable. Simply from a numbers stand point, more natural rights are violated by the
production of the glue ending than if the glue continues to be produced. Without this glue, the
people of Central America would be worse off than they are now, and while its presence may not
be completely beneficial in some of the aspects pertaining to it, the positives this glue brings to
Central America outweigh the negatives attributes that come along with it.
Using the distributive justice theory, which treats similar individuals similarly, and
dissimilar individuals dissimilarly when analyzing relevant aspects, the main fact that supports
the production and selling of Resistol glues in Central America is simply that the people of in
that part of the world are living in an environment and culture completely different from the one
that we are living in here in the United States of America. The cultural norm for our country is to
have a job, a house, a family, clothes, food, and freedoms people in third world countries would
only dream of, and that is exactly what the people in third world Central America do. What we
have as basic goods and deem the bare minimum are seen as extravagant and luxurious for these
people. Their floors are dirt; their doors are be sheets; their beds are a hammock hung from a
tree, if they are lucky; their windows are simply square holes in the walls of their hut, again if
they manage to find the money to own one. Even the homeless in America have life better than
many people in Central America simply because of the immense availability of food and water
and shelters accessible to them with the advancements we have made as a culture. Due to these
vast cultural differences, one can find it difficult to say that putting a stop on the production of
Resistol glue products would be the best for the people of Central America.
Another two aspects in which the people of H. B. Fuller, along with the workers that use
their glue, are different from the children inhaling the glue are different in relevant aspects are
their ages and the ways they use the glues. The children using the glues are young, fairly new to
the world, and are by no means the most knowledgeable. They do not know, scientifically
speaking, how the glue is detrimental to their bodies, but that it makes them feel safe,
comfortable, and free. Also for the most part, people with this glue are using it properly. Their
products and business should not be forced to suffer due to the misuse of the product by other
people in third world Central America. They are more knowledgeable when it comes to dealing
with the glue and use the glues for its intended purpose; therefore they should not have to work
harder due to overcome other people’s problems
A fact opposing my moral judgment pertaining to the production of the glue that one may
use with distributive justice would be that we are all humans. One would argue that if there was
a product being made in America that was harming the people of America, especially the
children, a stop would be put to it immediately. We watch out for the well-being of our country
and the people who inhabit its lands, and the same should be done for the people of third world
Latin American countries. This glue can be seen in some respects as a detriment to their society
being as it prevents people from functioning not only as a member of society, but even as human
being’s normally would. We are all member of the human species, which can be seen as the only
similarity needed to conclude that everyone should be treated the same way.
In a final analysis using the distributive justice theory, the fact that everyone involved in
the case is human is not enough to end the production of the glue. Forcing a company here in the
United States to end the production of their product because children in a few third world
countries abuse it would not be right. Even the people living in the country that use the products
properly would not the production of the product to stop. With the warnings put on the labels
about the dangers of inhaling this glue, the people using the glue properly should not have to be
affected due to the actions of other people. To end this production of glue would directly go
against the theory or distributive justice.
According to the moral theory of the Catholic Social Teaching, the relevant information
that supports my moral judgment is that through the production and selling of the Resistol glue
products, most people with any affiliation to the product are working to achieve the common
good and are treated with justice. The production of the glue in the factories is enabling people to
provide for themselves and their families, which also allows them the opportunity to work with
those around them to better their neighborhoods, communities, and societies. It is also providing
people here in the United States with money to continue their work. Instead of ending the
production point blank, the money made from the production and selling should in turn be
utilized for further research into replacement ingredients for the glue so it would not be as
detrimental to the children of Central America, or it could be used to help better educate the
children of Central America about the glue so they would know the dangers that come with it
and why to not use it as a hallucinogen.
From the other perspective, the occurrences happening in Central America due to the
production of this glue seems to violate the theory of Catholic Social teaching in more way than
one. First, the children using the glue are not being treated with a fundamental dignity or worth
as human beings made in God’s image. In a sense, these children have been treated as casualties
of the capitalistic society America is today. H. B. Fuller has not done anything to attempt to
educate the children of Central America about the dangers of this glue, as far as the information
provided in the case study is concerned. Besides providing people with jobs by producing the
glue in the factories or enabling them to successfully complete their job by providing them with
the proper supplies, the company has not given much effort to help improve the down-trodden
lives many people in Central America lead. Second, the presence of the glue in their
communities is detrimental in helping the people around there work to achieve the common good
since they have either been rendered useless through the loss of motor function because of the
glue, or the people must work to help those that have become dysfunctional. It makes the
progression of their communities and societies fairly tough when they must tend to those who
have been damaged, either physically, mentally, or emotionally due to direct or indirect use of
the glue as a hallucinogen.
In a final analysis, the evidence using this theory does support my moral judgment, to an
extent. Catholic Social teachings are highly focused on the fundamental value of the human
being as a creature of God, and in some respects, this case falls short in meeting with the core
values of the catholic teachings, depending on how one looks at the situation. Yes, the children
of Central America are not being treated with the most dignity when it comes to dealing with this
glue. Yes, the people of H. B. Fuller are not down in Central America every day to monitor who
the people they sell their product to are then distributing the products to. These both can be
changed though. With the $329 million dollars made yearly, H. B. Fuller can set aside some of
their profits to not only help ensure the proper use of their products by the people of Central
America, but also to help better the lives of the children there, not only with supplies, but also
with education and the knowledge of why not to use their glue products improperly.
According to the care theory of morality, the relevant fact that supports my moral
judgment is simple: the people of H. B. Fuller are not closely related to the children using the
glue improperly. They do not know the children’s names, have no knowledge of their backstory,
have never met them, and are by no means a parental figure to the children in anyway. The
production of this glue helps the families of those employed by H. B. Fuller, including those in
Central America, by providing them with the money to obtain the resources they need to fulfill
their natural right to live. H. B. Fuller is not going throughout Central America with these tubs of
glue and showing the kids how to get high off of it or forcibly making them inhale it. They even
print labels on their containers informing others of the harm that can arise due to the regular
inhalation of their Resistol glue products. The closest concrete relationships for the people of H.
B. Fuller are being taken into account when dealing with this glue.
On the other hand, people may argue that the relationship between the producers of
Resistol glue and the children of Central America is a concrete relationship that must be taken
into account. The product that H. B. Fuller is producing for cobblers, carpenters, and furniture
makers is also causing damage and death to some of the children who live in the streets of
Central America. Some people see feel that because the children are using these products, even if
it may not be the proper way, H. B. Fuller have a direct relationship with the children that is not
being respected or promote care for the well-being of the children by the producing and selling
of their Resistol Glue in Central America.
With a final analysis using the care theory, the judgment that producing and selling the
glue in Central America is supported as being morally acceptable. To rebut against one who feel
there is a relationship between H. B. Fuller and the children using the glue as a hallucinogen,
there is a simple fact that leaves that argument invalid. Without the production of the glue, there
would be no relationship between the children and H. B. Fuller to begin with. By no means can
their “relationship” possibly be deemed close and concrete if it would completely end with the
termination of the production of just one product. The production and selling of the Resistol glue
in Central America accounts anywhere from fifteen to twenty-seven percent of their profits,
enabling them to keep families in the United States and Central America fed, clothed, and
sheltered, for starters. Family is the most concrete relationship one can find in today’s so society,
and to go against this by closing down Resistol factories is to go against the principles of the care
theory as a whole.
After the final analysis of this case using all five moral standards as guide, the sale of
Resistol glue by H. B. Fuller in Central America is a morally acceptable action. While not every
aspect of the sale of this glue is positive by any means, under all five standards the positive
aspects for the sale of the glue outweigh the negatives. This being the case, work to help the
children of Central America should still be done though. To stop the production and sale of the
glue immediately would create much more harm than good, but by utilizing the benefits that
come from the sale and production of these glue products, a truly better life can be brought to all
involved.