Saturday, May 18, 2013

Ethics and Business

The talk of business ethics is a strange one. You have to believe that cold, nebulous organizations can carry human traits to believe that a business can be ethical. I personally don't in the same way I don't believe a country can have a faith.

I mull over the concept of America being a Christian nation a lot...mostly because I hear the phrase so much. Every day, I believe it less...not because of what's going on today, but because I simply cannot see how a nation founded on the murder of natives and theft of Africans can ever call itself Christian while taking any genuine consideration for what being Christian actually means...and that's regardless of how many copies of the 10 Commandments are posted on school walls.

Seth Godin recently wrote a piece on business ethics that really hit home for me...not just in the discussion of America as a Christian nation, but in the more personal and applicable realm of my work and purchasing life. You can read it here, but here are some of my favorite quotes.

"It's not business, it's personal."

"only people can have ethics"

"You either do work you are proud of, or you work to make the maximum amount of money."

"Business is too powerful for us to leave our humanity at the door of the office."

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