n his blog thezspot, author Z raises two questions about people receiving unemployment paychecks. Both are laced with suspicion of fraud. First, people who are collecting unemployment checks are required to show they're at least trying to get a job, but Z writes that some are "showing up for interviews in jeans and t-shirts." Then he asks, "Do these people really want the job, or are they just showing up to say that they are actively seeking work?"Business Ethics Workshop, accessed May 12, 2011, http://businessethicsworkshop.com/ Chapter 4/Unemployment fraud.html. He goes from there to a second critical point. "Some people," Z says, "are collecting unemployment checks even though they're actually working." What they do is turn in their unemployment form listing the days they worked, and those are deducted from the check they receive. That sounds OK in the abstract, but, he adds, "The problem is that these people who are 'on call' are not taking shifts that are offered to them. Those shifts don't get deducted from their unemployment. So, while there are people who are actually unemployed, struggling and looking to find work, there are Union employees sitting at home deciding when they do and don't want to come in. And collecting unemployment." From the posting's response section, here are two contributions: 1. It's not easy for me to swallow that my taxes are supporting people who could be working.. 2. I have a question. I live in Wisconsin and I know of somebody who is collecting unemployment but is not actually going to any job interviews or is even applying for jobs. Is this illegal? If so, how can I report this without them knowing? QUESTIONS 1. If you were using the eternal return to chart your way through life, would you have any problem "sitting at home deciding when you do and don't want to come in while collecting unemployment"? If you're all right with that, how would you respond to the complaint from the response section that someone is paying taxes to support your lifestyle? 2. Thinking about the people showing up for job interviews in jeans and t- shirts, what might be lacking in their character according to a virtue ethicist? If the government is one of those institutions proponents of virtue look to for the instillation of good character, what might the government do in this situation in the name of encouraging virtue? 3. The second cited response to Z is a question about how an unemployment cheat can be reported "without them knowing." : About this silent reporting, why is this not what a proponent of discourse ethics would recommend? How could the five-step process of discourse ethics be applied to the situation? Would the guy complaining about paying taxes be included in the discussion? what kind of proposals might be voiced to rectify the situation? 4. Starting from the ethics of care, is there a situation you could imagine that would justify the actions of workers who take some shifts but decline others, and collect unemployment for those declined hours?