How to Have Good Morals
Diego Ruiz Duran a Mexican lawyer and constitutional lawyer believes that morals are essential for any businessmen but in particular attorneys. After all, he argues, at the heart of the law is the pursuit of justice. And how can the law be administered if its moral compass is skewed asks Duran?
There are many opinions on what it means to be moral. For example, in the 2011 movie, Margin call, actor Jeremy Irons plays the CEO John Tuld who appears at his company’s New York Stock Exchange company to be told that the company is near-bankrupt, due to risky financial practices. Tuld authorizes a “fire sale” in one day to try to liquidate and unburden the company as much as possible before word gets out.
On the one hand, Tuld firmly indicates that he does not cheat. On the other hand, he sees no problem with selling and passing off worthless financial investments to others. “We are selling to willing buyers at the current fair market price” Tuld argues.Apparently, his definition of the fair market price is highly flexible. Many people would argue that Tuld had situational morals, a rampant disease among many people.
For example, supporters of the Trump campaign for the presidency argued that the conservative agenda was only the one favored by God and country as the true moral way, yet when they lost the election, they came up with dozens of spurious reasons attempting to overcome the results.
Diego Ruiz Duran believes that morals have to be not only taught, but people need to have faith that the moral way is the right way. To lose with grace and try to regroup is far better than to attempt to lie, cheat and steal your way toward your objectives.
That’s why, some morals experts argue that the word morals is an outdated concept and instead should be replaced by two overriding principles, total honesty, and total accountability.
Would we lose the war with the Chinese and the Russians if our government totally told the truth? Or would it make us what our forefathers taught, the paragon of virtue?
Should companies, as former president Donald Trump used numerous times, be allowed to continue by filing bankruptcy, not once but six times. Even baseball doesn’t allow you six strikes. Trump just said he used the laws of the United States which allowed him to do so. But that’s part of the trouble. Shouldn’t have lawmakers designated that when you go bankrupt, then the company should cease to exist.
But of course, the concept of total responsibility is not popular. Otherwise, CEO’s who often do little to benefit the company would be paid a fraction of what they are currently paid. Imagine how different our laws would be in this country if legislators, both on the Federal and the State level totally told the truth. There would be few backroom deals, commercial rather than first-class or private jet deals, and few fact-finding trips to Bora Bora or the Bahamas. Lobbyist firms would also dry up. Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and accept the consequences.