If there is any coherent lesson for me in this economic crisis, it is that morality is more central to the function of a democracy than I had previously assumed.
In this country, we do not let felons vote; the presumption being that they have demonstrated sufficiently poor (or damagingly self-interested) decision making that they cannot be trusted to participate in the process of governance. The argument here is that there is a minimum standard of conduct (determined by a shared morality) that all members of a society must demonstrate.
Perhaps we should take this logic a step further.
The unique challenge of democracy is that no member of a democratic society can hold another member of that society to a moral and ethical standard that he himself is not willing to maintain.
While we may be outraged at what has become of our economy and, in some sense, our government, we have no call to be surprised at what has transpired.
We have publicly castigated the executives who are walking away from this economic collapse with millions in their pockets, but we privately idolize them. Whether we admit it or not, “get rich quick” is still not as offensive a term as it ought to be. These people were capable of getting away with rampant corruption because we, the willing masses, were complicit in their schemes Taken as a whole, we Americans refused to check our facts; refused to take a few minutes to seek sound financial advise or even apply raw logic and common sense to the pie-in-the-sky investment opportunities we were offered.
To believe that only the most vile and corrupt among us would have acted in radical self-interest when the possibility of incredible gain was presented while the threat of consequence removed, is lunacy. In a society where social standing is based almost solely on the quantity and quality of luxuries accrued, the chance and limitless material gain without consequences is the ultimate forbidden fruit.
We should also not expect that things in Washington and Wall Street will change any time soon. The damaging effects of amoral governance and business will continue to be felt until we realize that the only things that preserve our democracy are sacrificial restraint on the part of those who run our companies, selfless service on the part of our elected officials and vigilant attentiveness on the part of the electorate.
We cannot expect our executive, our officials or even our neighbors to start living to a higher standard than what we are willing to live up to. To ask a superior sacrifice of others is to ask them to shoulder a larger share of the burden of governance and civic responsibility than we are willing to take on. That is a worldview appropriate only in childhood.
As we look ahead at a confusing road out of this mess, we would do well to begin calling things for what they are. We need to begin calling this avalanche of self-interested government for what it is; functional oligarchy. We need to understand that complex or confusing economic or political climates do not necessitate complex or confusing ethical standards.
We would also do well to remember that there really has been only one “get rich quick” scheme throughout history. It is called “stealing.”
