Morals

I had an interesting conversation at work the other day. It seems lately that a lot of our conversations head in the direction of the greater good. Whether it be the environment, how to treat people or even just general business practices.

Anyway, the other day one of my coworkers was talking about investing. He buys stocks and often celebrates when the market is down because that is an opportunity to buy. I made a comment about him not caring about other people's investments. I brought up a conversation that was had with another coworker when gas prices spiked to their highest levels last year. He owns stock in an oil company. When he heard someone complain about gas prices he remarked that they should buy stock in an oil company so they would benefit from the higher gas prices.

After hearing this story, my coworker said that I would be happy too if I owned stock in an oil company. I told him that I would not own stock in an oil company because I do not believe in their business practices. He was somewhat shocked and kept prodding me. I continued to tell him that I don't like the way the oil companies do business. I don't like the fact that they made record profits while gas prices peaked. I told him that I thought they were immoral.

His reaction surprised me. He asked me why they were immoral. He said, "they are not selling pornography or anything like that." This really surprised me. In his mind there is nothing immoral about shady business practices. In his mind companies cannot do anything wrong unless they are selling pornography. He links pornography with morals...and that is all. I feel sorry for him because he is caught up in the corporate mentality that all that matters is profits.

Profits at the expense of people. Profits at the expense of the environment. Profits at the expense of our future. How has this idea developed in our country? How do we continue to ignore society in our quest for more money? I don't know, but I am trying to do my part to open some people's eyes to what really matters...the greater good.