A New Kind of Ethics - Corporate First.

We know what ethics were like in the past -

Virtue ethics describes the character of a moral agent as a driving force for ethical behavior, and is used to describe the ethics of Socrates, Aristotle, and other early Greek philosophers.

Socrates (469 BC – 399 BC) was one of the first Greek philosophers to encourage both scholars and the common citizen to turn their attention from the outside world to the condition of humankind. In this view, knowledge having a bearing on human life was placed highest, all other knowledge being secondary.

Self-knowledge was considered necessary for success and inherently an essential good. A self-aware person will act completely within his capabilities to his pinnacle, while an ignorant person will flounder and encounter difficulty. To Socrates, a person must become aware of every fact (and its context) relevant to his existence, if he wishes to attain self-knowledge.

He posited that people will naturally do what is good, if they know what is right. Evil or bad actions are the result of ignorance. If a criminal was truly aware of the intellectual and spiritual consequences of his actions, he would neither commit nor even consider committing those actions. Any person who knows what is truly right will automatically do it, according to Socrates.

While he correlated knowledge with virtue, he similarly equated virtue with joy. The truly wise man will know what is right, do what is good, and therefore be happy.[7]

Notice this, Socrates has probably affected ethics for thousands of years after he wrote. However, he is talking about joy, about being good, about caring for people and watching out for your fellow human.

Where we are now is not that place.

Our ethics are changing. For one thing, with women in the workforce, a lot of people seem to be putting work ahead of family. And with work usually being for big corporations, it could end up being more about how much you can screw the other person over than it is about how much you could make the world a better place.

I have proof for this, actually, as corporations tend to function in a similar manner to psychopaths when behavioral analysis is used to compare behaviors. As they are now human, this is valid, right?

I actually don't mean to sound sexist here - not towards the corporations (what sex are they, exactly?), but towards women, I mean - I am picking up what I read from a few BBC Business articles and reading between the lines. Personally, I don't like the world of big business or anything dealing with it, I prefer community businesses - and you can see why I don't like the business world in a minute.

This next article is going to be about bonuses not being equal between men and women, and while I agree with that, it has some subtext that is unrelated.



Bonus Time: Why It's Still a Man's World (BBC)

Of course, we are not going to be talking about the main topic of these articles, but reading between the lines.

Think like a wolf

Above all, be confident. Munich-based Anne Frisch, a former chief financial officer for many international companies, suggested approaching any meeting about salary or bonus with a strong mental image that helps you remember that resources are limited and you need to fight for what you deserve.

She has used imagery of a wolf fighting for food among its pack and a lioness defending her cubs. “This [visualisation] really gives me the drive to claim my fair share,” said Frisch, now a board member for EPWN.

What I want to point out here is that feeling that you have to fight for what you deserve, and this survival of the fittest mentality (an interesting one to appear in the U.S. and U.K. following my brief research into Nazi influence in the C.I.A.).

However, I do understand how that is a decent strategy to turn to given the financial crisis and the fact that a lot of people have been out of work. It is kind of expected, honestly, and hopefully we can all relax again after a brief period of crazy... fights for dominance.

I have to digress and say that some of the article in this case was pleasant to read.

Madrid-based Marijo Bos learned this early in her career. While working as a headhunter, she heard co-workers talking, and realised that her male counterparts’ total cash compensation was higher than hers. She immediately asked her supervisors about the discrepancy. Bos, who today is president of the European Professional Women’s Network (EPWN), was lucky: After reviewing her file, her supervisors at that early job raised her salary and bonus.

There are better ways to go about getting equal pay for equal work, however. Rather than waiting until the last minute, lay the groundwork throughout the year. To maximise your earnings, ask if you are on track for the highest levels of compensation, make sure you know what kinds of accomplishments lead to bonuses and raises and make sure your successes are clear to your supervisor.

So here we go, we are returning to a society where we are able to bring up important issues instead of ignoring them to be "polite" and "politically correct." That's a plus, in some ways? Also, I'm glad that women are moving forward in the workplace.

My point, with regard to families, is more about families. Is the family more important, or is the corporation?

edit on 6-9-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)