“…these institutions are seen by too many of us … as impersonal entities to be used and exploited.” I think Greenleaf is right. I don’t think though this means people necessarily are lacking morality because they mistreat their institutions, especially the businesses they work for.

I think most people see their institutions as a means to an end for morality in their own families. For those people, the institutions are a paycheck without many strings. The paycheck is brought home to improve the lives of the spouse and children.

But we can fight for a bigger win here. If we can improve the morality of the institutions, the result is a greater public good, AND a paycheck for the good of the family. But if people think their paycheck is threatened by attempting to improve institutional morality, frequently they’ll ignore civic duty to protect their duty to their families.
chris | 02.05.07 - 12:20 pm | #