Is there a Crisis of Ethics in America

Article Summary

The article reveals how business ethics have rapidly fallen in America. They range from the Madoff Ponzi schemes, mortgage frauds to the selling of the Illinois senate seat by a seating Governor. It reveals how people in authority failed to follow ethics strictly which led to the meltdown.  Failure to follow business can lead to worrying trends in development. The article shows that many organizations are very greedy and unaccountable. Finally, this paper shows how bad business ethics have led millions of people to misery.

Article Analysis

America certainly has eroded in terms of business ethics. There have been cases of corruption that stretch from Wall Street to Main Street. Fraud and greed being perpetrated by businesses is something that is common nowadays in the country. Honesty is a human value that should be followed by all people from all walks of life. It does not matter if one is a Christian, Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim. The country is facing a crisis in getting leaders and business leaders to follow business ethics strictly. Many of the debacles that the nation faces like recession could have been averted if our leaders and businesses are following business ethics strictly (Gillam par 1). There have been many instances in which business ethics have been compromised.

Billion-dollar ponzi schemes are the talk of the day. Bad mortgages boggle down many Americans today. Bad mortgages led to millions of people being rendered homeless. Lobby groups pay political leaders to get favorable decisions to go their way in promoting their businesses. Some people in society think that business ethics have got nothing to do with religion. When religion is not connected with business ethics, dishonesty takes root. In one instance, Bernard Madoff, a financier was accused of fleecing investors’ colossal amounts of money in the range of $50B. In other cases, involving public officials, the Governor of Illinois was accused of trying to sell the senate seat that was formerly held by President Obama, four hundred people were charged by the authorities for colluding to steal over $1B from the public in a mortgage fraud. The American economy is in a bad state because of greedy and irresponsible leaders and businesses that only think of their welfare. People should make hard choices in order to map out a new path that follows business ethics strictly (Gillam Par 1).

It is because of greed and lack of accountability that personal debts are making millions of Americans struggle in their daily lives. It led to toxic financial schemes causing the shutdown of several U.S banks and brokerages. Some people have been saying that the nation needs a business ethics recovery plan apart from the financial recovery and stimulus plans. Business ethics ought to be followed not just legally but also morally. Decline in ethics was not seen by many people as one of the factors that led to the meltdown. It was expected that some people would call the crisis a failure in ethics, but this idea was not thought to be valid (Gillam Par 2).

It is much simpler and very natural for people to find a moral theme that defines a bad outcome. Greed of an egregious scale led to the economic crisis. It led to very many people losing their jobs. Many people, thus, resorted to attending church services in search of solace. Previously when things were rosy, many people spent most of their time in leisure activities. The crisis has made people see the importance of following business ethics strictly. Church and other organizations have taken advantage of this, to drum the message that it is important to follow ethics strictly and in an honest manner and to change other ethics that are morally wrong, but legally right. Business ethics cannot be wished away from our society for if we do, we will witness regretful states of development in our communities (Gillam Par 3).