Pass the Salt Please!
I’ve just finished reading a fascinating article in the June 22, 2009 edition of NEWSWEEK. The author, Fareed Zakaria, is tackling the multi-faceted complexities of the recent, international economic meltdown. The article addresses many challenges within capitalism, democracy, the financial system and government regulation. But what intrigued me most is the conclusion that this secular columnist reached. “What we are experiencing is not a crisis of capitalism”, he says, “it is a crisis…ultimately of ethics.” It goes on to say, “No system – capitalism, socialism, whatever – can work without a sense of ethics and values at its core. No matter what reforms we put in place, without common sense, judgment and an ethical standard, they will prove inadequate. We will never know where the next bubble will form, what the next innovations will look like and where excesses will build up. But we can ask that people steer themselves and their institutions with a greater reliance on a moral compass.”
