Ethics in American Business - It's Not an Oxymoron

Does business ethics have to be an oxymoron? I don't think so. If you don't operate with some sort of moral compass, you will have a bunch of negative press and maybe a blog saying how lousy you are. What if Starbucks didn't give benefits to its part-time employees? What if Nordstrom didn't provide the excellent customer service? What if The Body Shop really did do animal testing for its products?

There is a growing trend in society to be more spiritual, and therefore will buy from retailers they believe also share their values. The world may not be perfect, but being ethical, therefore, in some way, is not the death of a business. Others may try to scam you, but that doesn't mean you have to steal and cheat people to get ahead. With an increase in standards, more people are buying organic products because of the scare created about the food industry. Movies like Fast Food Nation have scared people into eating healthier for instance.

You may argue that no one is perfect, if you don't live by some sort of moral compass however, you will find yourself cheating yourself out of true joy and happiness. Some argue that religion in general, and Christianity specifically has been a hindrance to society's progress. Without some sort of a moral majority, this society couldn't exist. If everyone was doing whatever they felt like, we would have utter mayhem. Its bad enough that there family unit has been decimated due to divorces and dysfunction, but more people are becoming spiritual as a result of it.

This growth in spirituality comes from decades of decadence and despair. The 80's highs and the 90's lows and bounce back to riding high in the internet bubble and the following burst. One doesn't need to be an economist to see that you have to be the leader to profit.

Someone grew these beautiful violas for profit and now they make my garden beautiful.

Credit: Jaalah DuPont

Copyright: Jaalah DuPont