Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice. Proverbs 16:8
Have you ever priced a hearing aid? These tiny electrical gadgets, some small enough to fit completely in the ear without being seen, range in cost from $1000 to $4000. I feel sure that no hearing aid manufacturer would make this information public, but I bet the raw materials on each hearing aid cost about 25 cents. A say this based on the fact that I can purchase an AM/FM radio in the dollar store (the one where everything costs a dollar). Hearing aids are made with the same raw materials as that radio, but fewer of them. As editor of a magazine for people with hearing loss, I know the industry rationale for the other $999.75 worth of cost on even the basic model: research and development. It is true that there are many scientists and engineers working on improving the quality of hearing with amplification. It’s also true that all of the major hearing aid manufacturers not only spend hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising their products to audiologists and hearing aid dispensers, and have nice profit margins, they each also have a philanthropic spin-off organization or at least, some sort of philanthropic program within the company.
This is a pretty common thing among large corporations, and in fact, many people are influenced in their purchasing decisions by whether or not the company in some way “gives back” to the community or the world. I like to eat small, compressed wheat rectangles for breakfast. Recently, one producer of this type of cereal advertised that they are giving away a million bowls of cereal. My purchase of said cereal is going to generate another free bowl of cereal for some hungry kid. “Good!” I think. “That’s nice. If only all corporations would give back in this manner, the world would be a better place.”
Then it dawns on me that if I weren’t be overcharged for my bowl of cereal, Post company wouldn’t have a margin of profit so far above its shareholder expectations that it is able to give away a million bowls of cereal without ticking off the shareholders, cutting back on salaries or advertising, or even lowering office thermostat in winter. The same is true about hearing aid companies. Should I feel good that Starkey Hearing Foundation gives away on average 38,000 hearing aids each year at the expense of those honest hard of hearing folk who bought one of their products?
According to a 2009 Consumer Report, hearing aids are marked up on average 117 percent after all the costs of materials, research and development, advertising and professional services rendered by audiologists are taken into account. That’s a free-market economy at work. Consumers will pay it so companies can charge it. But I have to ask: In all this economic theory played out, where is justice? Oh, right, it’s in those one million bowls of free cereal and in the 38,000 hearing aids a year that the company is giving away. In my opinion, that is dissociated, post-coital justice: an attempt to make things right with a third party after having screwed your customer. Here’s a radical idea: Why not offer the product at a price where the margin of profit is not obscene? Post Shredded Wheat cost $2.98 at my local supermarket. If they adjusted their price so that they couldn’t afford to create a philanthropic program to feed a million, I bet more of America’s truly poor people could afford to buy it. Then those poor people wouldn’t need to stand in a bread line in front of some social services organization to get their free bowl of cereal. And if you think I’m harshing on Post, you should know that their bite-size wheat cereal costs almost a dollar less than the same product under the Kellogg brand.
And yet, it seems an almost insurmountable feat to radically lower the price of cereal, not to mention hearing aids. It would shake the industry if Post or Starkey started pricing their products with a modest profit margin. It could topple the economy! I fully recognize that it’s not just as easy as deciding to do the right thing when it comes to large corporations that are industry leaders. I also fully recognize that those corporations are made up of individuals who will be held accountable by a just God for their daily decisions.
But while I’m pointing the finger at large corporations and the individuals who run them, I should note the three fingers pointing back at me. First of all, I could well be a shareholder of one such company. I have no idea if I am or not. As I’ve mention in a previous post, our global economy and the convoluted way in which we invest money today, through funds, is a huge barrier to tracing my investment dollar and its impact on society. I could be part of the problem! Secondly, small businesses employ over half of private sector employees in the United States in approximately 29.6 million small businesses, according to the Office of Advocacy, which means small businesses play an important role in the economy and also have ample opportunity to justly or unjustly price products and services. Thirdly (the pinky finger), what am I doing as a consumer to let large corporations know that I’d prefer that they price justly, enabling more people to afford their products and services, than to overprice and then scrape off some of their crumbs to the poor, perpetuating a “welfare mentality”?
Contemplate this: Am I economically supporting, philosophically endorsing or perhaps even actively participating in unjust gain?
Showing posts with label ethics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ethics. Show all posts
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
1001 Ecuadorean Lies and Other Tales
Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.
Deuteronomy 25:13-16
If God is the same yesterday, today and forever, then guess what – He still detests anyone who deals dishonestly. This is such a strong statement that even though I have the Bible backing me, it’s hard to make. God detests certain people. In this day of “hate the sin, love the sinner,” it just doesn’t seem right to say God detests certain people. And especially for something as common as dishonesty!
While I was in the Peace Corps in Ecuador, I learned a good deal about honesty and its polar opposite, dishonesty. When I arrived there, I had the notion that a person was either honest or dishonest and never the two qualities could mix – like oil and water. Either you are an honest person or you are not, and therefore, you are a dishonest person. What I came to understand over some months was that though honesty and dishonesty are polar opposites, the distance between them is bridged by a continuum, and depending where on this spectrum a person “resides,” he or she has some measure of honesty and some measure of dishonesty. Only extremely extraordinary individuals are devoid of one or the other.
This explained a lot, like how families could open their homes to a Peace Corps volunteers in training for three months, make them part of the families, safeguard them and their possessions, and then on the last day of their stay, steal their cameras. This happened to more than one in our group of volunteers. It was like, “Oh, you’re leaving now, time for me to take what I want from your stuff.” Of course, it wasn’t like that. They didn’t come out and say it – if they had, it would have been weird, but at least understandable. Instead, the families denied any wrong doing. But it had to have been them – they were the only ones with knowledge of where the goods were and access to them. I encountered dozens more of situations in Ecuador in which people who one would swear were honest became dishonest given the right opportunity. Their honesty was situational and their dishonesty opportunistic. It happened so frequently, that I couldn’t help but think on the subject extensively. I needed to reconcile what I was seeing. It was so different from what I knew as an American. Or so it seemed.
Stealing is a big dishonest “no-no” for Americans. We’re really sensitive about it. I can remember feeling a lot of guilt for stealing a piece of five-cent candy from an ice cream parlor when I was about nine years old. I don’t think I ever told anyone I did it, but I knew it was wrong because of our strong cultural value that stealing is wrong. In Ecuador, the values on stealing are different. Stealing is probably still wrong, but it can be justified, particularly in the face of economic injustice. This will make sense to you if you think of a poor urchin child stealing a piece of bread to have something to eat. It’s wrong; but who of us would not pay for the bread to exonerate the child and let him eat it anyway? That same kernel of compassion we feel that justifies a child eating wrongly acquired bread has been cultivated in the psyche of many a person in developing countries. (Ooo. Big statement. Seems like it should be footnoted with some scholarly sources.)
That same justification for dishonesty is at work in me and you when we tell a white lie so we don’t hurt someone’s feelings. In God’s eyes, what’s the difference between a white lie and stealing a camera? I’m sure you’ve asked yourself a similar question and concluded that in God’s eyes, it’s all dishonesty – sin, the wages of which are death.
And yet, God can work through dishonesty – and has. In Exodus 1, we find the account of Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah lying about how many babies they deliver, and God seems pleased with them. In Joshua, Rahab lies to cover up for the Israelite spys, and the Bible says she was “considered righteous for what she did.” (James 2:25). Then, we see in the Bible that God can work with people who lie, even if He isn’t working through them: Abraham lied twice about Sarah being his wife. Jacob – what a liar – enough said! And even fair King David – a man after God’s own heart – was dishonest. (Do you see how the English lexicon works? David was “dishonest,” meaning he wasn’t an honest man? That hardly seems right.)
Fast forward to 2010 and there are thousands of ways for each of us to have “two sets of measures.” There are probably just as many ways to cheat the company we work for as there are to cheat our customers if we own a business. And what about cheating the government or large corporations with which we do business? And guess what? It’s our nature to think up more ways to cheat and steal.
The truth of the matter (no pun intended) is that there is no person, no not one, who is honest if honesty is the complete and total lack of dishonesty. Just like we’re all sinners, we are all liars and thieves. It’s our nature. If you have had the blessing of being a parent of a toddler, you have probably witnessed that first deception and realized (or hoped) that this was not something you taught your child. That’s right, it’s not. That’s the nature with which we’re born. Does that mean God detests us all?
With the power of Christ we can rise above our sin nature, and we must. “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” Romans 8:12-14.
Contemplate this: Honestly, where do I currently reside on the continuum of honesty/dishonesty?
Deuteronomy 25:13-16
If God is the same yesterday, today and forever, then guess what – He still detests anyone who deals dishonestly. This is such a strong statement that even though I have the Bible backing me, it’s hard to make. God detests certain people. In this day of “hate the sin, love the sinner,” it just doesn’t seem right to say God detests certain people. And especially for something as common as dishonesty!
While I was in the Peace Corps in Ecuador, I learned a good deal about honesty and its polar opposite, dishonesty. When I arrived there, I had the notion that a person was either honest or dishonest and never the two qualities could mix – like oil and water. Either you are an honest person or you are not, and therefore, you are a dishonest person. What I came to understand over some months was that though honesty and dishonesty are polar opposites, the distance between them is bridged by a continuum, and depending where on this spectrum a person “resides,” he or she has some measure of honesty and some measure of dishonesty. Only extremely extraordinary individuals are devoid of one or the other.
This explained a lot, like how families could open their homes to a Peace Corps volunteers in training for three months, make them part of the families, safeguard them and their possessions, and then on the last day of their stay, steal their cameras. This happened to more than one in our group of volunteers. It was like, “Oh, you’re leaving now, time for me to take what I want from your stuff.” Of course, it wasn’t like that. They didn’t come out and say it – if they had, it would have been weird, but at least understandable. Instead, the families denied any wrong doing. But it had to have been them – they were the only ones with knowledge of where the goods were and access to them. I encountered dozens more of situations in Ecuador in which people who one would swear were honest became dishonest given the right opportunity. Their honesty was situational and their dishonesty opportunistic. It happened so frequently, that I couldn’t help but think on the subject extensively. I needed to reconcile what I was seeing. It was so different from what I knew as an American. Or so it seemed.
Stealing is a big dishonest “no-no” for Americans. We’re really sensitive about it. I can remember feeling a lot of guilt for stealing a piece of five-cent candy from an ice cream parlor when I was about nine years old. I don’t think I ever told anyone I did it, but I knew it was wrong because of our strong cultural value that stealing is wrong. In Ecuador, the values on stealing are different. Stealing is probably still wrong, but it can be justified, particularly in the face of economic injustice. This will make sense to you if you think of a poor urchin child stealing a piece of bread to have something to eat. It’s wrong; but who of us would not pay for the bread to exonerate the child and let him eat it anyway? That same kernel of compassion we feel that justifies a child eating wrongly acquired bread has been cultivated in the psyche of many a person in developing countries. (Ooo. Big statement. Seems like it should be footnoted with some scholarly sources.)
That same justification for dishonesty is at work in me and you when we tell a white lie so we don’t hurt someone’s feelings. In God’s eyes, what’s the difference between a white lie and stealing a camera? I’m sure you’ve asked yourself a similar question and concluded that in God’s eyes, it’s all dishonesty – sin, the wages of which are death.
And yet, God can work through dishonesty – and has. In Exodus 1, we find the account of Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah lying about how many babies they deliver, and God seems pleased with them. In Joshua, Rahab lies to cover up for the Israelite spys, and the Bible says she was “considered righteous for what she did.” (James 2:25). Then, we see in the Bible that God can work with people who lie, even if He isn’t working through them: Abraham lied twice about Sarah being his wife. Jacob – what a liar – enough said! And even fair King David – a man after God’s own heart – was dishonest. (Do you see how the English lexicon works? David was “dishonest,” meaning he wasn’t an honest man? That hardly seems right.)
Fast forward to 2010 and there are thousands of ways for each of us to have “two sets of measures.” There are probably just as many ways to cheat the company we work for as there are to cheat our customers if we own a business. And what about cheating the government or large corporations with which we do business? And guess what? It’s our nature to think up more ways to cheat and steal.
The truth of the matter (no pun intended) is that there is no person, no not one, who is honest if honesty is the complete and total lack of dishonesty. Just like we’re all sinners, we are all liars and thieves. It’s our nature. If you have had the blessing of being a parent of a toddler, you have probably witnessed that first deception and realized (or hoped) that this was not something you taught your child. That’s right, it’s not. That’s the nature with which we’re born. Does that mean God detests us all?
With the power of Christ we can rise above our sin nature, and we must. “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” Romans 8:12-14.
Contemplate this: Honestly, where do I currently reside on the continuum of honesty/dishonesty?
Monday, September 21, 2009
Patience, Grasshopper
Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. Proverbs 10:4
The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. Proverbs 13:4
OK, I sought the Kingdom of God first, now what? I’m still not a huge success – I’m ready for this to happen already!
Even a fool-proof formula for success needs time to work its “magic.” The time spent in earnest seeking God’s Kingdom daily, day after day, is a practical expression of a good character trait that is behind every true success story: diligence.
In our society which likes everything to be fast and disposable, diligence is underrated. You might think it’s non-existent, but the advances in medicine, science, technology, computers and more are evidence of diligence. I work with an organization that funds research on hearing and balance. Each year they give out 20 or more grants to scientists working on tiny little pieces of the huge puzzle “hearing and balance for everyone.” To the average person, some of these studies seem terribly insignificant. For instance, one that was funded this year seeks to quantify the mitochondrial DNA common deletion level and total deletion load in the cochlea of people with and without age-related hearing loss. (Yawn.) And this is just one of the many, many studies in progress right now that will someday complete the puzzle and yield a headline: Cure Found for Age-Related Hearing Loss! There are so many diligent researchers out there working on so many problems and we’ve seen so much measurable progress and so many remarkable breakthroughs that we now expect them and wonder why the heck more aren’t happening. Why isn’t there a cure for Alzhiemer’s yet? Can’t we get this Parkinson’s thing figured out before it’s too late for Michael J. Fox? What’s the hold up?
We want this same overnight success in our lives too, don’t we? I do, I’ll admit it. Daily I am dreaming up new ways in which I could be a huge success by this time tomorrow – a serendipitous meeting with just the right corporate buyer, one of Rachel Ray’s producers Stumble(s) Upon my Reba Ray page, an Oprah producer’s daughter receives On My Own Now for graduation. These are just the type of catalyst that make for big breaks. And yet, unless I have something for someone out there to discover, how could anything like that ever happen to me? Even Joe the Plumber had spent years building up a plumbing business before John McCain pulled his name out of obscurity. Think of any “overnight” success or fame and you will be able to trace it back to years – if not decades – of diligent preparation for that one moment that made the difference. Scientists, celebrities and Joe the Plumber make success look so easy, but diligence is their common denominator.
Instead of wallowing in despair about our future not getting here fast enough, we need to hunker down, put our noses to the grindstone and take care of the business, however small and tedious, that God has given us to do today. That might include cleaning toilets, washing dishes, writing a boring report, making someone else’s coffee or changing dirty diapers. If we do with diligence and a positive attitude, as unto the Lord, the task God has given us to do today, all these things will be added unto us in God’s perfect timing, which usually allots for sufficient development of our character so that when we do get “all these things,” we know how to put them to use for God’s glory and our good.
The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. Proverbs 13:4
OK, I sought the Kingdom of God first, now what? I’m still not a huge success – I’m ready for this to happen already!
Even a fool-proof formula for success needs time to work its “magic.” The time spent in earnest seeking God’s Kingdom daily, day after day, is a practical expression of a good character trait that is behind every true success story: diligence.
In our society which likes everything to be fast and disposable, diligence is underrated. You might think it’s non-existent, but the advances in medicine, science, technology, computers and more are evidence of diligence. I work with an organization that funds research on hearing and balance. Each year they give out 20 or more grants to scientists working on tiny little pieces of the huge puzzle “hearing and balance for everyone.” To the average person, some of these studies seem terribly insignificant. For instance, one that was funded this year seeks to quantify the mitochondrial DNA common deletion level and total deletion load in the cochlea of people with and without age-related hearing loss. (Yawn.) And this is just one of the many, many studies in progress right now that will someday complete the puzzle and yield a headline: Cure Found for Age-Related Hearing Loss! There are so many diligent researchers out there working on so many problems and we’ve seen so much measurable progress and so many remarkable breakthroughs that we now expect them and wonder why the heck more aren’t happening. Why isn’t there a cure for Alzhiemer’s yet? Can’t we get this Parkinson’s thing figured out before it’s too late for Michael J. Fox? What’s the hold up?
We want this same overnight success in our lives too, don’t we? I do, I’ll admit it. Daily I am dreaming up new ways in which I could be a huge success by this time tomorrow – a serendipitous meeting with just the right corporate buyer, one of Rachel Ray’s producers Stumble(s) Upon my Reba Ray page, an Oprah producer’s daughter receives On My Own Now for graduation. These are just the type of catalyst that make for big breaks. And yet, unless I have something for someone out there to discover, how could anything like that ever happen to me? Even Joe the Plumber had spent years building up a plumbing business before John McCain pulled his name out of obscurity. Think of any “overnight” success or fame and you will be able to trace it back to years – if not decades – of diligent preparation for that one moment that made the difference. Scientists, celebrities and Joe the Plumber make success look so easy, but diligence is their common denominator.
Instead of wallowing in despair about our future not getting here fast enough, we need to hunker down, put our noses to the grindstone and take care of the business, however small and tedious, that God has given us to do today. That might include cleaning toilets, washing dishes, writing a boring report, making someone else’s coffee or changing dirty diapers. If we do with diligence and a positive attitude, as unto the Lord, the task God has given us to do today, all these things will be added unto us in God’s perfect timing, which usually allots for sufficient development of our character so that when we do get “all these things,” we know how to put them to use for God’s glory and our good.
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