Ethics in the Marketplace

After writing my blog entry on Obama's design on our nation's economy, I found myself wondering what type of ideological commitment our nation's leaders have. People during the campaign were talking about being above ideology, but what I am finding is there is certainly ideology and ideological commitments that are impractical.

One can have opinions and believe that they are true with all one's heart and soul, but "trying them on for size" and impacting others because we believe that our ideological commitments are right, falls short of what would be considered ethically "above board".

The campaign ran along Democratic and Republican lines of argument, as we all expected, but slips of the tongue when Obama spoke to "Joe the Plumber" makes one wonder if re-distribution of wealth is what our stimulus package is about? Or is the package about placating the general public with "doing something quickly" (and underhandedly), while giving the perks to those who would benefit the ideological ends that this adminstration is committed to..

Many have their hands out wanting a bit of the "action" so they can continue their irresponsible behavior at the costs of the taxpayer. We have benefitted from a free market system that had limited controls. But, we have found that the limitation of control by the federal government has led to a wholesale "sell-out" of our country's moral values for the monetary gain.

What is to be the solution? I don't believe that limiting the free market, but I don't believe that there should not be ethical guidelines when it comes to business endeavors. Otherwise, we will be using humans for our own monetary purposes. And that is the base of unethical behavior...