Ethics matters more than ever (a competitive advantage for Objectivists)

Posted by BrettRocketSci 7 years, 9 months ago to Business
29 comments | Share | Best of... | Flag

We have left the Industrial Age. We are now in the Digital Age. Some call it the Connected Age.

Among the many disruptive innovations this causes in our world, here is one of them: our reputations travel far and fast. Every interaction we have with someone becomes a story that they can tell to someone else. In the Connected Age, any story has the potential to be spread far and wide.

We can (and should) celebrate the ability to learn about the true character and ethics of people we want to associate with. To do business with. To elect. It is an unprecedented ability to learn the real facts about a person through their actions and habits.

How many of us realize that this doesn't just present another selfish reason to be consistently honest and ethical, for defensive reasons. It is a great opportunity to see the Objectivist code of ethics as a powerful advantage to separate ourselves from others living and working in our world today.

Maybe someone reading this post will see this angle as the genesis of a new book or new marketing campaign. If you see the value of that, I would be honored to explore if we might create more value together with some collaboration.

But mostly, I hope everyone reading this sees the unique value in being consistently ethical and rational in all of our interactions. It is more valuable today than ever before.

I saw a poster in a classroom earlier this year:
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become your character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Others are able to watch what we say and do more than ever before. And they are able to tell others about it, more than ever before. Will you chose to see that as a bad thing or a good thing?

For those of us who value honesty, integrity, and free trade, it is a great opportunity. Let us embrace and celebrate these values so that we can attract those who share them, and separate ourselves from those who don't. Then we can be a positive force to move the world into the type of Gulch where we would want to live. Not in some mystical future, but where we are now, today.

We need this type of world more than ever today. And today is when we've had more power than ever before to make that vision real. My call to action for everyone reading this is to rededicate yourself to building an honorable and worthwhile reputation for yourself. You are building that reputation, whether you choose to or not. And it is going to spread farther and faster than ever before, whether you like it or not.

Make it a story worth knowing and spreading.

A virtual hat tip to Seth Godin who made a similar point with his daily blog post from earlier today. It inspired me to write this down and share it for you all.


Add Comment

FORMATTING HELP

All Comments Hide marked as read Mark all as read

  • Posted by Zenphamy 7 years, 9 months ago
    I'm a little astounded, though in truth I shouldn't be, to find this type of idea put forth on a site dedicated to Rand and Objectivism--the idea that a reason to have and live by an Objectivist ethic is because of one's increased exposure to others, or as a measure of reputation to build in others eyes, or as a comparison to others. This describes the theory of social ethics, not Objective Ethics.

    There is quite simply nothing in that idea or theory related to Objectivism or the epistemology of Ayn Rand, it is anti-life. I would refer any interested in the what and why of Objectivist ethics to: http://aynrandlexicon.com/ayn-rand-id..., as a starting point.

    An excerpt: "What, then, are the right goals for man to pursue? What are the values his survival requires? That is the question to be answered by the science of ethics. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why man needs a code of ethics.

    Now you can assess the meaning of the doctrines which tell you that ethics is the province of the irrational, that reason cannot guide man’s life, that his goals and values should be chosen by vote or by whim—that ethics has nothing to do with reality, with existence, with one’s practical actions and concerns—or that the goal of ethics is beyond the grave, that the dead need ethics, not the living.

    Ethics is not a mystic fantasy—nor a social convention—nor a dispensable, subjective luxury, to be switched or discarded in any emergency. Ethics is an objective, metaphysical necessity of man’s survival—not by the grace of the supernatural nor of your neighbors nor of your whims, but by the grace of reality and the nature of life." (emphasis added)
    Reply | Mark as read | Best of... | Permalink  
    • Posted by 7 years, 9 months ago
      I appreciate you sharing your reaction. I read my post again and don't know how you arrived at your interpretation, so let me try to clear up what I see as a misunderstanding. The fact that our reputations spread faster and farther today is not the reason we should be ethical. Right, that is a social justification. We should be consistently ethical because that is what we need for the reasons you state.
      The point is, actually practicing this consistently has greater influence on others today and with others. In return it has greater impact on your own success, assuming you plan to have interaction with others. Ethics matters with or without living in a society. Living in a highly connected society makes its influence even greater. I'm trying to give people here selfish encouragement to be more proudly and consistently ethical.
      Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ Stormi 7 years, 9 months ago
    I like the idea of the poster yu saw, however, kids already are addicted to buzzwords and talking points. One of my daughter's teachers once told me kids did not need to know stuff anymore, just have access to the Internet. Until they have learned and studied, they cannot discern truth from propaganda.If teachers' unions, politicians and the media did not go into it with an agenda, if they taught and informed with the objective approach, we would have a much more peaceful and kinds world. We would have ethics. I say let the kids read AS, and "Rules for Radicals", the Founding Father's words, and Mao's history. Teach it objectively, and they will learn and, if not coerced, find their way. Until then, we can't paint a rosie lovefest while our children are being manipulated to enhance the power and wealth of politicians. That is like telling a Muslim to set their women free to drive and attend class with men equally.
    Reply | Mark as read | Best of... | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ jdg 7 years, 9 months ago
    I would love it if this were true. But both modern transportation and Internet connectivity give us the ability to be anonymous, and therefore to walk away from our reputations at will. Those who have bad intentions have been using this ability for a long time, and I don't see any sign that it will go away anytime soon.

    The only bright side of this is that as more and more companies, governments, and other organizations get taken over by SJWs and other bad guys, who then try to use the reputation mechanism to purge them of good guys -- we can benefit from that anonymity ourselves.

    Think strategically. Act tactically. Our right to be moral is broadly under attack.
    Reply | Mark as read | Best of... | Permalink  
    • Posted by 7 years, 9 months ago
      There is the ability to be anonymous, but when you really want to know if someone is legitimate or trustworthy, that works against them. Someone says they've been in business for 8 years but there's no digital trace of them? Too strange.
      Whistleblowers are the only time I would consider trusting someone anonymous. Then they need evidence strong enough to stand on its own.
      Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
      • Posted by $ jdg 7 years, 9 months ago
        If you use a pseudonym for a long enough time, there's no obvious way to tell it is a 'nym. But then, even for someone using his real name, past behavior is not a guarantee of future behavior. Look at Madoff's resume up to when he retired as CEO of NASDAQ -- I would have trusted him, too.
        Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
    • Comment hidden by post owner or admin, or due to low comment or member score. View Comment
    • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 7 years, 9 months ago
      Then revert to straight up objectivism. It's always your choice every step of the way. You can only be immoral to your own system of values, ethics, and standards. When you follow the crowd which is the attackers objective they win you lose always.
      Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
  • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 9 months ago
    There is so much unethical behavior in business that the temptation to fight fire with fire is very great. Almost all profess being religious. The fiat is "That's OK in theory, but it doesn't work in the real world." So, what they are saying is that they give lip service to their religion(s) but don't follow its tenets. So, my question is if you are being beaten by those using unethical methods, and you can hurt them by being unethical also, should you? Roark, for example was responsible to no one but himself, So he could take a licking and come back ticking, but what about Mr. Ethical with a wife and 2.4 children?
    Reply | Mark as read | Best of... | Permalink  
    • Posted by $ jdg 7 years, 9 months ago
      As far as I can tell, the only reason organized religion exists is to enable its members to brag to others about how moral they are. After all, if someone really believes in God as a source of ethics, follows those rules, and doesn't intend to brag about it, he can do his praying just as effectively in private.
      Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
      • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 9 months ago
        True.
        The history and ascendency of religion makes for interesting reading inasmuch if you have a rational mind you'll quickly realize that for the most part, it is a load of horse pucky.
        Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 7 years, 9 months ago
    I think that there needs to be an ethics score, kind of like ones FICO score. The purpose would be to check out someone in advance of business dealings or friendships. People today are into acting and its difficult to evaluate them now. Some are very good at acting.

    I shouldnt have been, but I was surprised at Bernie Sanders when he came out and trashed Trump in a vicious way. He was always the grandfatherly type- lets each help the next person and all. But THAT was all an act. The vicious and controlling part of socialist Sanders finally came out. He is an evil person who just wants to take from all of us and put HIM as the leader. But, I never knew anything about Sanders all these years. I couldnt put in Bernie Sanders into a website and get all the skinny on him.
    Interesting business idea that hopefully will catch on.
    Reply | Mark as read | Best of... | Permalink  
    • Comment hidden by post owner or admin, or due to low comment or member score. View Comment
    • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 7 years, 9 months ago
      Not hard. Just evaluate yourself. Objectivism requires certain steps and every one of them is based on your own evaluation. No one else is ever to blame.

      As for internet information Agreed on Sanders but I'm thinking of some candidate from North Dakota...McGovern???? One internet comment was he had a heavy interest in underage children or words to that effect. Directed the reader to his own website. McGovern. One section showed Grandpa an the grand children. playing ball in the yard. That was the cover for that cheap shot and how many bothered to go look? Just cause it's on the net doesn't mean it's true.

      most unethical moves are easy to spot. Go to Amazon and find clothing for three cents but when you enter a size it becomes $9.99 Then you look at postage and handling $21.00 Item isn't three cents i's $30 dollars. The way Amazon stopped that or countered was the Prime system. Shipping is included.

      If you see .99 cents automatically in your head say one dollar. People are really stupid it's true. In one of my stores we priced everything in even dollar amounts. One day we changed to the .97 or .99 cent system. Sales went up 40% in one month. Just cause people are stupid doesn't mean we have to be the same thing. People get what they ask for and what they pay for. Go to complain and it's a a gone business. No address physical location? Don't do business with them.

      As for politicians. if their mouths moving they are lying not by their standards by your standards. People paid attention Hillary and Trump would get zero votes. but some like playing the lottery. Trouble is there is only one partial winner and one major winner and it isn't the ticket holder. The rest are more commonly known as losers. That's your election system. Maybe we need Amazon to run it for us using Prime.
      Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
      • Posted by term2 7 years, 9 months ago
        Politicis today Is emotional manipulation with no accountability. Promise to take from others and give to me in exchange for my vote.

        If our constitution did not allow the government to take from one and give to another, elections would be based on efficient administrative ability and judged by dollars and sense expenses incurred to run the government. Trump would probably do a good job by that standard I think. Hillary would do a terrible job by that standard

        Btw, I buy only thru prime on Amazon. Tired of getting ripped off by freight charges. For what it's worth I have been impressed by the integrity of Chinese merchants. I buy a lot for our company from China and they have been straight up in dealings. I have to pay in advance mostly, but find they are quite honorable to deal with.
        Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
        • Comment hidden by post owner or admin, or due to low comment or member score. View Comment
        • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 7 years, 9 months ago
          Ditto on a smaller scale. The only reoccuring problem companies using a factor system have the same name at the bottom of the complaint letter to the point if I know the 'selling' address is one of that flock I wouldn't bother.
          Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ blarman 7 years, 9 months ago
    Explains much about many of the movements we see in the news, from Black Lives Matter to Islam to Republicans and Democrats.

    Those who are wise choose to associate with others not because they need to hear from others that their ethics are correct, but who are drawn together because the underlying principles are correct.
    Reply | Mark as read | Best of... | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 7 years, 9 months ago
    We are accountable for what ever actions we take or impressions we make, or not...it is inherent, like it or not.

    Its a good thing.

    Just involvement in the gulch forces one to be a consistent as possible, leveling our best to adhere to reason as best we can.
    Reply | Mark as read | Best of... | Permalink  
    • Posted by 7 years, 9 months ago
      Thanks for the note Carl. That's true. Who you associate with determines much of your future.
      Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
      • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 7 years, 9 months ago
        A mentor once said that your income will be the average of your best 5 friends...pick successful friends...I say. I would imagine that goes for morals, ethics and many other things we wouldn't normally consider.
        That also goes for traits we don't like too...if your the type that practices introspection within self...a sign of consciousness.
        Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
        • Posted by 7 years, 9 months ago
          I was thinking of similar advice too--the average of 5 people you associate with most. I tend to agree it works for income and character.
          Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  
          • Comment hidden by post owner or admin, or due to low comment or member score. View Comment
          • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 7 years, 9 months ago
            I have five friends who are bona fide millionaires. They like working on my boat when help is needed. Hard to tell us apart in paint smeared cutoffs. We're going to call our dock Millionaires Club Plus One. Of the six I'm the only one who pays the least taxes. See iyour system works.
            Reply | Mark as read | Parent | Best of... | Permalink  

FORMATTING HELP

  • Comment hidden. Undo