To Sherry, Ray & the LO list,
Your dialogue about capitalism, corporate values, Cherokee philosophy was
interesting, but I'm not sure what the precise point is or what we are
supposed to do in response to it.
Ray, you speak about capitalism in such critical and passionate terms. Is
the problem with the system, the values and ethics, or its application
through the corporate system? Are you suggesting that the system itself
should be discarded or are you recommending some incremental sets of
changes which would improve the system?
I find that Ronald Reagan is not a very good symbol for the extremes of
capitalism. Reagan is too politically tied to the Republican Party, and
from my view, capitalism, even as you describe it, is the product of both
the Democratic and Republican systems. There is very little difference,
as far as I see it, in terms of their actions toward large corporations,
or their approach to capitalism in general.
Finally, capitalism is predicated upon the freedom of the individual to
maxmize his or her own financial wealth. Large systems, like
corporations, have a greater ability to function in that regard, because
of their abundance of resources. When on aspect of that economic systems
is controlled by a small group of organizations, then those freedoms are
restricted, and there will be inequity. The major threat to capitalism as
you describe it, will be the ability of individuals to access information
which in previous times they could not, and therefore unable to
financially benefit from it. The philanthropic challenge is partly then
to provide access for the underprivileged so that they have the
opportunity to benefit from that freedom.
The X-factor in this is the human heart. Greed, fear, dishonesty, et al,
are the plagues upon any economic system. I don't see how any strictly
economic system addresses the "sins" of the human heart. A system will be
a free system only to the extent that its people are free. That is why
part of any economic system there is a religious component. Not religious
in the institutional sense, but religious in the sense of whatever you
give your heart to will become your "god." And this is not something
which you can address institutionally very well. Michel Novak, the Roman
Catholic scholar, has probably done the best at describing the
interrelation between a religious point of view and the capitalist
economic system. I recommend him as one perspective worth hearing
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, passions and honesty,
Ed Brenegar
Leadership Resources
brenegar@circle.net
--Edwin Brenegar III <brenegar@bulldog.unca.edu>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>