We've watched in astonishment as grass root efforts across the Middle East brought down abusive and greedy
leadership regimes all spring and summer. Could the so-called "Arab Spring" have helped fuel what appears to be the "American Fall" with protests in New York spreading everywhere? What do these protests have in common? In my view, greed may be the root cause of this unrest.
Sadly, powerful leaders all too often seem to find ways to do what is in their own best interest rather than for the common good. We seem to relearn this lesson over and over again in every generation and in every culture. The average person struggles and suffers greatly while the lives of the powerful leadership live in unimaginable luxury and privilege. Finally, a breaking or tipping point occurs, people take to the streets and demand reform, and if all goes well, change happens for the better (at least for a little while).
Several weeks ago, I offered a blog post about the social responsibility of the rich asking readers to reflect on what the ethical responsibilities might be among those who have enormous resources. I mentioned how many of my Silicon Valley neighbors make sometimes billions of dollars and that some use at least some of their monies to make a better world for others while others don't. Of course, people have the right to do what they wish with their money and resources (within legal limits) but what ethical or
moral obligation might they have to others (if any)?
Too often greed seems to get the best of those who have so many resources with them demanding more and more privilege, power, and wealth. It seems remarkable and unimaginable that some politicians do everything in their power to ensure riches for themselves and their supporters without reasonable efforts to help others with fewer fortunes. While I'm no political scientist or economist, it seems bizarre that Wall Street executives and politicians (as well as their friends and associates) just can't get enough money, power, and control while doing what appears to be nothing for the millions who suffer. It seems that the current protests in so many major American cities are a byproduct of people saying to the most rich and powerful "enough is enough."
I certainly don't have answers to the many social problems that have sparked the Arab Spring and the current American Fall but it appears that we have to find some way to temper greed in order to create a world and community where the very few don't have all the resources and more while others struggle so greatly.
How much is enough anyway? How much salary, bonuses, riches, and benefits are enough? Larry Ellison from Oracle apparently made $10 billion last year according to newspapers reports. Is that enough? Sadly, it appears that for the privileged and powerful, there is never enough for them. Perhaps these recent protests suggest that a tipping point has been reached.
While there are many ethical principles that could help us consider how much is enough, I would like to highlight social responsibility and the common good. Human nature clearly needs checks and balances to maximize the odds that those with power and resources don't greedily take more and more for themselves while others fall further and further behind. Frankly, I am quite disgusted by such unabashed greed and wonder how our evolution as a people, culture, and civilization hasn't yet found a way to keep this type of greed and disregard for others in better check. And how have politicians and the business elite convinced so many Americans that it is in their best interest to allow the richest among us to have more and more?
So, what do you think?
