S
Surefire
Guest
What kills me is when the moral types condone the gaping lack of moral fiber present in the business world. Prostitution is wrong, but damnit that cashier didn't wish me a happy day. Personal responsibility is key, yet when executives sacrifice it on the alter of the profitability idol, by ignoring the damages incurred in reaching the goal...this is ok.
What gives? When did making money become more important than how you make it? The answer is that it obviously has not...not in every respect. We have worthless gimmicks galore and, while it's part of the diversity capitalism promises...it shouldn't be the foundation. In this sense, collaborating with rivals to eek a few more dollars or cents out of each sale really is not all that different from showing a professional bodybuilder standing next to a rubber ball to sell your 'revolutionary body sculpting sphere'.
Yet the business sector is hardly alone in this lack of morality. To put it simply, Americans in previous decades have been far more concerned with the price of their product than how it reaches the shelf. If we call this 'dumb' purchasing, then the vacuum it creates is the same space regulatory agencies and increasing legal action promise to fill.
However this initiative is far from inoculated against the draw of the dollar. Class action lawsuits provide accountability. They also provide yet another opportunity for those with less interest in the damage they cause than the number of zeroes in the payoff.
The underlying theme of this post, if it is not clear yet, is morality. Ethics. The idea that, while extremely important, the bottom line should not be the bottom line. Shifting the responsibility of acting responsibly to the consumer, watchdog, the next guy, or just hoping it never resurfaces is at the heart of nearly every financial fiasco one can call to mind.
For capitalism to work, we need to be capitalists. We also need to remember that capitalists have to go home at the end of the night, and if rationalization is needed to make the day's work seem less immoral, we are doing it wrong. Not because a prophet said so, but because over time, we are killing the dynamism that makes going forward possible.
This means we all have to care more about what we buy, where it comes from, and how it got to us. This is no small task, and with the increasing complexity and demands of every day life, we cannot all be expert consumers. But the more effort we put in, the more those who are looking to make a buck will notice the possibilities of providing honesty as well as quality, efficiency, and economy.
What gives? When did making money become more important than how you make it? The answer is that it obviously has not...not in every respect. We have worthless gimmicks galore and, while it's part of the diversity capitalism promises...it shouldn't be the foundation. In this sense, collaborating with rivals to eek a few more dollars or cents out of each sale really is not all that different from showing a professional bodybuilder standing next to a rubber ball to sell your 'revolutionary body sculpting sphere'.
Yet the business sector is hardly alone in this lack of morality. To put it simply, Americans in previous decades have been far more concerned with the price of their product than how it reaches the shelf. If we call this 'dumb' purchasing, then the vacuum it creates is the same space regulatory agencies and increasing legal action promise to fill.
However this initiative is far from inoculated against the draw of the dollar. Class action lawsuits provide accountability. They also provide yet another opportunity for those with less interest in the damage they cause than the number of zeroes in the payoff.
The underlying theme of this post, if it is not clear yet, is morality. Ethics. The idea that, while extremely important, the bottom line should not be the bottom line. Shifting the responsibility of acting responsibly to the consumer, watchdog, the next guy, or just hoping it never resurfaces is at the heart of nearly every financial fiasco one can call to mind.
For capitalism to work, we need to be capitalists. We also need to remember that capitalists have to go home at the end of the night, and if rationalization is needed to make the day's work seem less immoral, we are doing it wrong. Not because a prophet said so, but because over time, we are killing the dynamism that makes going forward possible.
This means we all have to care more about what we buy, where it comes from, and how it got to us. This is no small task, and with the increasing complexity and demands of every day life, we cannot all be expert consumers. But the more effort we put in, the more those who are looking to make a buck will notice the possibilities of providing honesty as well as quality, efficiency, and economy.