Corporate Ethics: Oxymoron

It troubles most people when they begin to realize that Capitalism is a belief in capital. People, families and basic human needs have absolutely no bearing on the theory and practice of business as we have inherited it. Those considerations have been foisted on the non-profit sector and government by design. As a trained educator, I wish that we would return to a system of educating our children that emulates the earliest history of the craft in America. In the early days, group of families would join together and pay the wages of a trusted teacher, charging them with the responsibility of conveying vital skills to their offspring. The biggest reason that schools as we know them are still with us is the benefits they hold for corporate interests. What we have devolved to is unworkable, except for employers. With the children away from home all day, the mothers (for it is still usually the mothers who provide care for their children)are available to the labor market. This "service" is not nearly as much about education, as providing labor today as well as a well-trained workforce for tomorrow that can get to work in a timely fashion, accept meaningless tasks without question, act civilized, line up, patiently await their turn and jump through myriad hoops before being rewarded. Capital dictates these things, or at least it has up until now. We are beginning to see cracks in the monolithic structure of our capitalist system.

Many who advocate change are quick to hide behind the fig leaf of saying that capital is good "in it's place", that profit must remain part of our culture or that "Money is not the root of all evil, lust for money is the real problem." However, capital, the sources of it and methods for securing it have grown so corrupt, that it has become difficult to justify the entire system. Would an ethical person allow their neighbor to go homeless? Would they steal money from a young family knowing that it might force their children to go hungry? Would an ethical person give someone a drug if they knew that with it came the very real possibility of death or other injury? These are all too common occurrences in our daily lives under Capitalism.

The very concept of ethics presupposes it's opposite. This duality is part of our veil of tears, to be sure, but to truly understand the morally decrepit basis of the current system, one need not look further than the driveway. Two generations ago, virtually every block or two one could find a market. Merchants were supported by several dozen families,(sometimes fewer)who knew that they could count on that store keeper to give them the best available quality for the most reasonable price. Many people, my relative included, made it through The Depression by growing vegetable gardens and sharing their surplus produce with the grocer for consideration when buying more pricey items, like milk, meat or cheese. This same trust existed with the shoe salesman, the bike dealer, doctor, pharmacist, the garage and the clothing store owner. People were the driving force behind the economy. (pun intended) Now, most folks hop in the car, driving all around town to try to find the best deals. My father-in-law will clip coupons for things at three different stores then spend money and time going from place to place, trying to get ahead by playing one supplier against another! With loyalty like that, how could a grocer develop a relationship with your customers? Now that we have the scan-able cards for "loyal" customers, the data collected about our purchases, which allows us to be marketed to in new and better ways can be another profit center and way to exploit us.

How can we expect corporations to see past this mind-set when we refuse to do so ourselves? Often, we forget that we are supporting, one way or another, this system that we cannot fathom. If we try to divorce ourselves from it, we find it in other areas of our lives. Years ago, we could all walk to the grocery store, now the closest one to where I live, two miles from city center, is over a mile away. There had been several groceries closer, but one by one they went out of business, driven out by the deep pockets of larger chain stores who claim to have better selection, but always with a price. Capitalism only gives us something when something of greater value is taken away. The green space that used to exist for children to play in, or the clean water and flood control provided by undeveloped land mean nothing to the Capitalist. "How cheaply can we get it?" and "How big a mark up will the market support?" are the only considerations of corporate decision makers.

Luckily, there is a growing movement that is asking what is really important? Truly considering the needs of others. Interestingly enough, these are the same people who have been willing to do without for themselves to make life a little sweeter for others. People who have been willing to get out of their comfort zone and actually learn from others, and folks who just want to share the bounty of their lives with others. We are blessed to have them among us. When J.F.K. said: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." It would have been nice if Corporate America would have listened half as much as the Peace Corps Volunteers, the War Resisters, the Ecologists and the social change people did. It is past time to reign in the excesses of the ultra-wealthy, put the kibosh on the dehumanizing effects of capital, and begin to realize that the corruption caused by our current system is as absolute as the corruption that comes with absolute power.