Jump to full article: Cobourg (Ont) Daily Star (ca), 2008-08-06
Author: Robert Washburn
Intro: When the $1.15-billion fine against Imperial Tobacco and Rothmans' Benson & Hedges was announced last week, it was a paltry sum compared to the companies' actions. . . .
Socrates said, "Vice harms the doer." Even if no one ever finds out and we can get away with doing something wrong, the act hurts us more than it hurts the victims.
But in a cynical world, Socrates appears to be talking into the wind. No one pays attention to this kind of thinking any more. Since Gordon Gekko announced in the filmWall Street,"Greed is good. Greed works," a generation of MBA students has felt it had a license to do whatever it takes to make money.
And, this is the heart of the problem. When people lose trust in business, business loses even more. Business loses when we think every time a corporation sends out a press release, it is full of lies. . . .
Businesses need to take this issue of trust more seriously. It is true; one bad apple spoils the barrel. Not only does it undermine the fundamental economics of the 21st century, but it also deepens the pervasive cynicism, which is a trademark of our times. This distrust spreads like a cancer through all aspects of our lives.
If there is a way out, it will not be legislated. Morals cannot be successfully turned into laws. It is only the actions of individuals of conscience that will make this change possible. It is going to take a massive change of heart. Sadly, it is hard to see how that will happen.
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