Integrity
Matters
January 7, 2004
When
it comes right down to it, it's greed
Question: (E-078)
Dear
Jim:
The stories about very rich people pushing
for still more wealth, in questionable ways like defrauding
even small investors, upset me. What happens to integrity
and honesty when money comes into the picture?
Response:
For
some, wealth and recognition seem to blind their social
sensitivity. Simple, hard-working, single-minded individuals,
who've been helped along the way to incredible success,
sometimes turn a deaf ear to those they once called friends
and colleagues. Either they never learned to appreciate
their success and stop clawing their way to the top, or
they have failed to recognize how inappropriate it is
for them to continue in their self-serving ways once they've
really made it. What we do understand is that this type
of behavior is destructive.
Once
upon a time, when citizens were not quite so surrounded
by conveniences and less able to push buttons that "do
the work," more energy may have been focused on
social interactions. Perhaps when a trip of 100 miles
required a week of travel, folks had more time to appreciate
their world and the people in it. Now, we are able to
fly around the earth in less than a week, and still we
seem to have less time to reflect and relate.
Although
we will not change some of the dirty rotten scoundrels
who will forever take advantage of others, there is a
chance that some who might be at risk of false pride,
hubris, and ruthless insensitivity will take heed of another
of the lessons taught by Mahatma Ghandi. It was Ghandi,
the "great soul," who led the drive for Indian
independence and was assassinated in 1948. He gave up
his family legacy of a life of guaranteed luxury, including
the best that education could offer, to provide guidance
for his own people and his nation's freedom. From
Ghandi's experiences, we can learn this:
There
are seven aspects of living that must be avoided. By choosing
more constructive priorities and behaviors, each individual
can avoid what Ghandi referred to as the seven deadly
social sins:
- Wealth
without work.
- Pleasure
without conscience.
- Knowledge
without character.
- Commerce
without morality.
- Science
without humanity.
- Worship
without sacrifice.
- Politics
without principle.
