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June 09, 2004
What? Me worry?
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.
Posted June 9, 2004 08:05 AM
Comments
I agree wholeheartedly with the assertions made both on this blog and the Ballor article. The plain truth is that we have become morally weak, but more importantly we have become weak in our ability and willingness to make a decision in all areas of our own lives and in society in general. There is definite proof that law of supply and demand prevail with regard to many morally base activities and beliefs. What is worse, getting caught up in such activities or looking away with nary a comment about the actions of others? Even Christians have become increasingly sensitive to the desires of our culture to pursue activities and lifestyles that are not in accordance with their own beliefs. Can no one stand up for what they believe anymore without being pigeonholed as a religious fanatic? I am really tired of having to worry that I am hurting someone else’s feelings every time I assert an opinion that is contrary to the sensitive treatment that everyone expects in this decade. In my opinion that is the big problem. There is right and wrong and we need to step up the plate not to condemn “sinners” and immoral business people, but to put a stop to their actions through personal intervention (i.e. public boycotts or cable and computer filters). It is a lot easier to look away from a situation than to confront what you believe to a problem that is a detriment to society.
The alleged “quick-witted” member of the secular world will immediately throw out one of the only bible verses that they know, “Judge not lest you be judged.” The problem is that they do not read much further in the Good book. The passage continues with the analogy of removing a plank from one’s eye prior to pointing out the speck in your brother’s eye. Christians are instructed to assist and consult with those who are struggling, but not before we address our own faults and persistent sins can we can sympathetically meet the needs of other members of our society. Christians should not and cannot portray themselves as paragons of society without blemish or ignore our constant struggle to adhere to a certain code. While Christians may act effectively through evangelism, I believe that they will provide more of an impact in a materialistic society through market intervention.
The government should not bear the burden of being the morality police, but at the same time should not squelch the attempts of those who attempt to re-sew the moral fabric of this country through ACLU empowerment and business fraud investigations that result in a slap on the wrist. It is not up to the government to make moral decisions at every level of society, either for or against. It is the job of society to educate and train business leaders in the proper conduct expected in their careers. Only through societal intervention will a true change be evoked in this country. It is OK for us to set high standards knowing full well that we may fail to meet these standards in some cases. These standards should be set and uncompromised because it is the right thing to do, but not necessarily the easy or most profitable course of action. In contrast, I would not change a thing about this struggle to reinvigorate morality in society. If it was too easy to evoke this change, there is no end to how far right wing we could go before we hit the wall (Afganistan?). I want those who aspire and struggle to adhere to high standards in their business and in their personal morality to be commonplace in this society and those who choose to sacrifice morality for profit to be punished to some extent by government intervention if the law is violated, but more importantly these individuals will be confronted by a society with morals and the ability to speak with their pocket books.
Tirade complete—TJ
Posted by: TJ Burdine at June 9, 2004 10:28 AM
Signs of cultural sickness and disfunction sadden me as well, but could it be (and this is my history degree speaking) that the current state of affairs seems especially bad to us because we are experiencing it as mature adults? I suspect that we might find similar signs in any culture at any point in history. Of course - mass global communication makes us very aware of these things all the time - perhaps giving us the sense that things are worse than they have ever been. One hacker can cause damage to hundreds of thousands of people, but he/she is still only one hacker. Of course, the corporate scandals in the press during the last years are evidence that the collective greed of which you speak is a terrible reality. But history is the story of these cycles - excesses followed by societal and (okay - governmental) remedies. This is where mass communication helps us - we hear about these things and can respond as a culture.
We DO have to live very defensively because of the ways technology has changed our business transactions and daily lives. We are aware that some people want to intrude into our lives in destructive ways (like putting pornography on our websites) - sometimes for no apparent reason than the satisfaction of causing distress to others. But such people have always been around.
I wholeheartedly agree that we have to respond appropriately, when we can afford the time and energy to do that, to protect ourselves (but must be careful about assuming that Christianity has a lock on what is appropriate). I just don't quite agree that things are necessarily worse today than they have been at other times.
Posted by: Cindy Warner at June 22, 2004 10:08 AM
at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. He consults with a variety of businesses on start-up and growth related issues, and with larger corporations on re-establishing entrepreneurial cultures within their organizations. Dr. Cornwall's current research interests include entrepreneurial finance and entrepreneurial ethics. He has authored or co-authored four books.
