Abiding the Honor Code

When studying for the midterm, I was reminded of a class discussion from earlier this year, perhaps in our discussion of Kantian philosophy, where we talked about the effectiveness of an honor code. In comparison to Rhodes, my old high school was much less academically dishonest, and it was very refreshing to find that students here were so honest. I am wondering if an honor code, such as the one at Rhodes, was implemented into my old high school people would be more academically honest. There was a small report of thefts every year and barely any bullying, the only problem was the cheating that went on. In fact, one teacher who was near blind would make his tests even harder because he expected students to cheat. Isn't that just allowing them to do so? The students were so focused on bettering their GPA's so that they would get into better colleges that they were willing to ignore their better moral judgments. Ultimately, I wonder if people would act more ethically correct if they were only expected as such and more responsibility was in their hands.

This got me thinking further about government financial aid. I acknowledge that there certainly are many individuals who are in great need of welfare, and I would be happy to see my taxes go towards helping them (if I had taxes). There are many cases, however, where this system is completely abused. An example of this is of a neighbor of mine who lost his job recently and quickly applied for unemployment aid. For months he will receive a check that was greater than what he had been making so that he will have time to find a job. He is perfectly capable of working and has a family that he must support, but he is choosing to instead exploit government services and reap the benefits. What would Kant and Mill say to this? Would they be in support of this system? In some cases welfare does well for people, but are we merely enabling those who abuse it to hurt themselves? Say my neighbor doesn't take this check and finds a job. For the months he would be unemployed he could be working hard and even getting promoted, which could be much better for him. Of course all of this lies in whether he enjoys working. Regardless of that, others are working hard for a paycheck of which a portion will go to support programs such as this. If there are people exploiting it, doesn't it hurt all of those who work hard and honestly?