Monday, October 23, 2006

enron! money! selfishness! ahhhh!

It is incredibly frustrating to watch people make major decisions focused around money. It is even more frustrating to hear credit given to those people, because “we’ve never been faced with decision-making based on such financial power, who knows if we could stand up for what’s right if we were offered millions of dollars?”

Come on. Can we not see that Hollywood has proven that money does not buy happiness? Will we not stand up for people, because we are so self-absorbed and money hungry? Is this the American dream? I think so. Bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger feet stomping on anyone in the way of our pursuit of this lame, superficial lifestyle.

Though this was not necessarily a financial decision, I’ve faced such ethical difficulties at my internship. I work at a very small agency, and therefore have quite a bit of opportunity to work with most of our clients. However, one of our clients is Knockouts – which is the haircut version of Hooters. Something that our culture embraces with little concern – but the sort of company that I don’t feel comfortable promoting. I told my boss I didn’t want to work on Knockouts at all. I don’t agree with this ridiculous idea of married men getting their hair cut and their fantasies entertained by college-aged girls dressed in skin-tight, less-than-classy outfits. I want to promote my belief that the heart and mind matter more than the body. I don’t want my money to support Hooters, or Knockouts because I believe that the more our culture accepts this, the more quickly we’ll move towards more detrimental, immorally degrading atmospheres.

I’ve been so thankful that this has helped me establish a healthy, honest relationship with my boss. He respects me, and my opinions. I was not penalized or looked down upon for my honesty and unwillingness to plunge forward with a client that I don’t feel comfortable advocating.

I’m scared when I see this footage of how the people at Enron behaved. And I’m even more terrified when people in my classes question if they’d turn down millions of dollars in the face of complete corruption and deception. I’m scared that this is human nature. I’m scared that our society represents a valuing of money above people and their well-being.

My only tool is the pray, that God would give me grace and strength to embrace what is good for the building up of others, and not my own benefit. And that God would be working in the hearts of people, to point them to good and right things, and show them the emptiness and hopelessness of hurting others for their own financial success or personal benefit.

That He would change our lazy society, our unwillingness to stand up for what is right, is my hope. That we would be a humble people, representative of His character, and all that is good and moral, is my hope.

No comments: