Do many even know right from wrong anymore?
I remember well those days back in the early 1950's when I began school. Right from the start, we were taught the value of the Golden Rule and I immediately realized the link that naturally followed to the Ten Commandments and even Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Back in those days, of course, we still said the Pledge of Allegiance, sang America at the start of the day and nearly all members of the class were either of the Christian or Jewish faith where God had so much influence on our lives. As in times past, we were expected to grow up and be good stewards of goodness in whatever profession we chose and it was generally just accepted. Oh, there were a few bad apples who fell off the tree but for most there was plenty of reason to follow the proper course. They were all part of good business ethics of the day and where business and social interaction were mostly in the local community, we wouldn't dare do something that would mark us as less than honorable, for no one would ever want to work with us again.
Sadly, something on the road to modernity happened which changed all that. Ethical behavior was watered down and with it came the bond of loyalty between business, customers and associates and it wasn't just of impact in business matters. With the coming of the anti-war movement in the latter 1960's, the flower children free love society and the disregard of standards that had long been accepted, the rules of behavior were watered down and over time just went away in their entirety for so many. All of these changes were furthered by the nuclear family, the elimination of small businesses for bigness and government where politicians answer to the drums of their high roller campaign supporters while giving lip service to the voters. As we become compartmentalized and organizations get larger and larger, the leaders, be it of big business and components like Big Ag, Big Oil, Big Retail, Big Banking, Big Education and Big High Tech look for an easier way for themselves by trying to control us instead of serving us. We even see it in our religion and more and more we see the refusal of some bodies to recognize some of the basic foundational truths as well as the laws of nature and even biology in particular in our institutions of faith. When the divide between the people and the leadership/businesses they used to serve honorably happens on a massive scale, be it a congregation, a customer segment, or even a geographical area and many more such groupings, the link becomes distant, impersonal and with the natural frailties of mankind, thoughts of power and the trappings of it move to center stage. And it's for just this reason that the common response when you try to reach them over the miles by calling is to receive this: "Your call is very important to us, so please leave a message and we'll get back to you." But then when you get no answer in two or three days, you know that they just don't care.
Do I have the solution to this? Yes, and it's a simple one but I know it would never happen. But just to make it clear, the answer is that we need to get back to the basics in all such endeavors. Basic ethical behavior, in the basic words of Merriam-Webster is simply "dealing with what is good and bad with a moral duty and obligation. When we throw out the concept of goodness and morality, which we have, we've lost the basis of honor which all organizations used to strive for. We've also opened the door to chaos and instability brings when rules of behavior are thrown out. I guess we have just decided that "if it feels good, do it" or "as long as you don't get caught" it's okay. And that means that the new ethical standard is "whatever is acceptable in our morally relativistic way is the way we will operate our business." This is why we are in so much difficulty as a society, for we are told there are no absolutes. I just simply reject that as hogwash, but to each his own, I guess. God help us.
Sadly, something on the road to modernity happened which changed all that. Ethical behavior was watered down and with it came the bond of loyalty between business, customers and associates and it wasn't just of impact in business matters. With the coming of the anti-war movement in the latter 1960's, the flower children free love society and the disregard of standards that had long been accepted, the rules of behavior were watered down and over time just went away in their entirety for so many. All of these changes were furthered by the nuclear family, the elimination of small businesses for bigness and government where politicians answer to the drums of their high roller campaign supporters while giving lip service to the voters. As we become compartmentalized and organizations get larger and larger, the leaders, be it of big business and components like Big Ag, Big Oil, Big Retail, Big Banking, Big Education and Big High Tech look for an easier way for themselves by trying to control us instead of serving us. We even see it in our religion and more and more we see the refusal of some bodies to recognize some of the basic foundational truths as well as the laws of nature and even biology in particular in our institutions of faith. When the divide between the people and the leadership/businesses they used to serve honorably happens on a massive scale, be it a congregation, a customer segment, or even a geographical area and many more such groupings, the link becomes distant, impersonal and with the natural frailties of mankind, thoughts of power and the trappings of it move to center stage. And it's for just this reason that the common response when you try to reach them over the miles by calling is to receive this: "Your call is very important to us, so please leave a message and we'll get back to you." But then when you get no answer in two or three days, you know that they just don't care.
Do I have the solution to this? Yes, and it's a simple one but I know it would never happen. But just to make it clear, the answer is that we need to get back to the basics in all such endeavors. Basic ethical behavior, in the basic words of Merriam-Webster is simply "dealing with what is good and bad with a moral duty and obligation. When we throw out the concept of goodness and morality, which we have, we've lost the basis of honor which all organizations used to strive for. We've also opened the door to chaos and instability brings when rules of behavior are thrown out. I guess we have just decided that "if it feels good, do it" or "as long as you don't get caught" it's okay. And that means that the new ethical standard is "whatever is acceptable in our morally relativistic way is the way we will operate our business." This is why we are in so much difficulty as a society, for we are told there are no absolutes. I just simply reject that as hogwash, but to each his own, I guess. God help us.
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