Ethics and Values: June 2004 Archives

I am usually the eternal optimist. I guess that goes with the entrepreneurial territory. But, while I am upbeat about the positive power of free markets, I do worry both about collective greed and about markets without soul that seem to be more and more evident these days.

This economic system of ours is based on a fundamental social contract. If the system no longer creates jobs and supports local economies, we run the risk that socialism may pick up speed and private ownership may begin to wane as government takes control and even ownership of many of the means of production. On the other hand, it is not beyond the realm of my imagination to visualize a time when our moral fabric becomes so tattered that rather than living in a land where religion and morals serve as our fundamental guides within a land of free choice, forces may move to impose certain morality through the power of government and quickly take away many of the freedoms we now celebrate. Although it may seem hard to fathom either of these scenarios, both are real.

Why do I worry? First, the size of our government and its scope have expanded at an alarming rate for the past sixty years. As one pundit recently put it, we now have the choice between a steady walk toward socialism with the Republicans versus and full sprint with the Democrats. Much of this seems to be based on a growing materialism and collective greed that has infested our culture. Now don't get me wrong. I am a die hard free market capitalist. But, owning stuff is not the ultimate purpose in life. It makes the journey enjoyable, but it is not the end we should be seeking in our lives. We are merely stewards of all the stuff we are creating in this world, and should never forget the responsibility that places on us. And a government that promises more and more stuff for all, and more and more protection from any of life?s risks, is preying on our collective greed. It threatens to slowly, like the frog in the pot water that never realized the heat had been turned on the stove until it was too late, take away our economic freedoms.

Second, I worry that our culture has become so weak that we now have a market economy with no soul. Some of you may have noticed that my blog site (and I am in no way alone in this problem) has been the subject of repeated SPAM attacks. The latest assault on this site has been from pornographic web "entrepreneurs". Now as a free market kind of guy, I should understand that free market capitalism can be a bit messy at times, but hey, this is a world of supply and demand. Right? Just as owning stuff should not be the ultimate end for the individual, there is the need for a collective understanding on what goods and services create real benefit for our country and our culture. Now one way to control this is through the government stepping in. That just never works. It creates more centralized power, and we all know where that leads us. I don't want to live in a land like we saw in Afganistan before we liberated that country. Culture, which is fundamentally shaped by our shared morality, is the much better choice. Sadly, we seem to have forgotten the importance of culture in shaping all that we do including commerce.

Why is ninety percent of the Internet traffic involved with pornography? I think it has much more to do with the current state of our culture than any shortcoming on the part of our government to intervene. I am just a lowly blogger. It blows my mind to imagine that the modest traffic that comes through my site would even be attractive to the pornography industry as large as it is. But, it is so large and so pervasive that even the little tiny niche of the Internet that I inhabit is part of their ever expanding domain.

In a recent essay, Jordan Ballor suggests that the power of conversion can change all of this. That is, if more people embrace a morality that views things such as pornography as evil, it will eventually end. I hope he is right, because the alternatives are frightening, indeed.

I have written from time to time about the need to look beyond the government controls versus free markets debate. Culture is an even more powerful force that can provide a context for our economic system that grounds it within a moral foundation. Here is an interview with Peter L. Berger on this topic that is fascinating. Prof. Berger is director of the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture and professor of sociology at Boston University. It was posted at the Acton Institute's web site.

Berger states the following:

"I think cases exist where there are tensions that individuals who are in positions of responsibility have to work through. That is the subject matter of business ethics, which is a complicated and I think worthwhile undertaking. But there is a primitive business ideology that being good, being morally virtuous, will always lead to economic success. That is simply not true. The life of Jesus of Nazareth if nothing else would indicate that he did not start a successful corporation.

"So I think the relationship is not that easy. It does not mean on the other hand, that in order to succeed in business one has to be a brutal, immortal person. No. But there is a tension there. I don?t think there are any easily formulated general rules on how to resolve that tension, but I know many religious people in the business world who will struggle with this and sometimes come up with creative solutions."

It is encouraging to see that this year's Entrepreneur magazine Hot 100 companies includes many companies that have integrated strong values into their company cultures.

"At a time when each day's headlines seem to bring new corporate scandals to light, it's heartening to know that being "good guys" has paid off for our Hot 100 companies. We were impressed by the number of entrepreneurs in this year's listing who credited their success to their employees and spoke passionately about the importance of treating customers and staff well. Proving they not only talk the talk, but walk the walk, the number of companies offering employee benefits such as health insurance, 401(k) plans and stock options increased this year."