On the Other Hand: Ethics, Ethics, Everywhere!

If only politics were more like business.  If only our elected officials were honest.  If only presidential history listed names like Iacocca, Welch, Buffet, or Mulally rather than Nixon, Carter, Clinton or Bush.  If only, if only, if only.

You and I listen to the tone of media more then we realize, and as a result we think of politics as dirty and unethical.  Okay, I’ll give you that.  I’m going to write about the recent debt ceiling issue soon and I imagine it won’t reveal an ethical Utopia.

But ethical issues are common to all mankind, and that certainly includes the business world.  I was reminded of this listening to an excellent podcast on misuse of patent law over at the NPR Planet Money blog.  The story is truly amazing… men who purport to crusade on behalf of lowly inventors are essentially buying inventor patents with shell companies (to help obscure their involvement), which they then sell to other companies (whose owner is unknown, but who don’t do any actual work), so that they can get kickbacks when those other companies sue everyone and their mother for accidental patent infringement.

If that sounds confusing, well, you’re right.  I recommend you listen to the podcast.  But what was most striking to me was how businessmen and lawyers and scientists alike can get so wrapped up in schemes and financial structures with no purpose other than attack, with no goal other than financial gain.  Every realm of our world is fraught with ethical opportunity and temptation, and in every sector people choose poorly.

Reminders like this should cause us to cry out to God for help in remaining steadfast, in exercising honesty about our lives and our careers, and in making wise decisions.  Politicians are in the limelight, but almost without exception each of us has opportunity to cause good or harm in the life spheres we occupy.  You may work in health insurance or patent law, media services or counseling, baking or financial auditing, and you will still face difficult ethical choices.

I love that media’s increasing interest in various niches allows us to feel less alone in our struggles.  But it also reminds us that the struggles we have are still real and need to be treated with ethical seriousness and careful prayer, whether they are discussed in newspaper headlines or not.