It is becoming an increasingly obvious fact of economic history that the development of economic systems which concentrate on the common good depends on a determinate ethical system, which in turn can be born and sustained only by strong religious convictions.
Conversely, it has also become obvious that the decline of such discipline can actually cause the laws of the market to collapse. An economic policy that is ordered not only to the good of the group — indeed, not only to the common good of a determinate state — but to the common good of the family of man demands a maximum of ethical discipline and thus a maximum of religious strength.
via Market economy and ethics by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) – The Acton Institute.
It is perhaps no accident that the economic collapse of 2008 is an outgrowth of the death of God. Though this death has been announced for some time, as I remember reading God is dead in the 70s. Love of self has replaced love of God in our lives to our peril.
The rise of the modern man, freed from the confines of ethics as advanced by religion, also brought us markets unencumbered by old fashioned morality. The all is fair in love and war theory.
Focus was and is on generating fees, and ultimately profit with little concern for those on whose back the profit was made.
We have globalized, downsized, and increased productivity to drive profits. Recent earnings seem to come from operating cuts rather than revenue growth, but that is another discussion.
Professors earned consulting fees advising multinational corporations to maximizing efficiency. CEO’s and senior management made fortunes based on these efficiencies.
While the benefit of globalization to third world workers is obvious, first world workers were doing more for minimal gain, while jobs went abroad and wages stagnated. More hours worked, working while not at work (laptops, cell phones, and Blackberries), giving up weekends and time off ‘for the team’. Working more and being thankful for the job, is the watchword.
What all this means is that ethics and morality were lost along our journey on the efficiency highway. Why pay Americans to build product when we can build it elsewhere for less? Our factories closed, our exports diminished, imports exploded as Americans bought cheaper goods. More factories closed. New factories were foreign owned with profits going offshore.
The service economy arrived. We are repairing things made elsewhere for less money than when we made the things here. Americans and Europeans after decades of sowing the wind are now reaping the whirlwind. An economic philosophy released from the bonds of ethics visits its furies on the first world. A 50 year trend culminated in the economic train wreck of 2008.
Decades of globalization have raised the tigers of Asia, China, and India to major economic players. Players who don’t hesitate to lecture the first world for it’s sins. Turn about is fair play. Power breeds respect, perhaps not friendship but respect. The lack of power or the will to use what you have results in loss of respect and your chickens come home to roost.
The road to recovery calls on us to recapture our morality. Business should remember the golden rule. We must realize that profit without honor is a cold mistress.
Deal fairly with your customers and they will remain customers. As a case in point, for years Americans made it a point to buy American cars even when the quality was not what it should be, because of loyalty. I was one of them. American car companies took that loyalty for granted and bankruptcy happened. The chickens came home to roost.
We need God back in our lives and in our society. We need to remember our heritage and honor our Father. We need to practice freedom, not just talk about it. We need to remember sovereignity starts with man, not with government. When we look in the mirror we need to see the United States of America. Only then will we recover our greatness.
