Should, Continued

I was deliberately vague in my last journal because none of us are ever exempt from thinking about our choices. But what brought on this thought process was the chain of events which led up to our current economic crisis.

Should I buy a house when I have no down payment and can’t really afford it?
Should I sell this house when I know this family can’t afford it?
Should I lend someone money for a home, when I know they will eventually lose it?
Should I design deceptive and predatory mortgages whose payments are likely to double?

Should I repackage bad loans into securities, then rate them AAA (the highest rating), just because there is no regulation?
Should I run a hedge fund based entirely on these crappy investments?
Should I take the money and run when it all starts to go bad?
Should I beg for the government to bail my company out, when I caused the problem?

Should I keep shorting stock when the market starts to crash, even thought it makes everything worse?
Should I start laying off employees, to prepare for a recession?
Should I scale back my spending, in case I lose my job?
Should I point fingers at everyone but myself?

If you take no responsibility for your actions, then you are part of the problem. If you could put yourself in the shoes of a CEO, and honestly say you would never “take advantage” of anyone or any situation just to make money, then you are a better person than I am. IMHO, the entire psychology of humanity needs an overhaul.

Should

As I sit here watching global markets crash all over the world, I have been thinking about the word “should”. I don’t think people stop to think about what they should or should not do. This isn’t anything new, just something that has been brought into sharp contrast lately by the devastation of our global economy.

We all think about what we “can” do. We are programmed to think in terms of what benefits us personally. Unfortunately, we don’t always look ahead to the possible repercussions of our actions. Even when we do, we often ignore potential consequences if we think the personal gain is too great.

And yet, at the core every world religion (that I’m aware of) there sits a lesson on morality.

More than ever before in history, we are all connected. Regardless of who you are, or what your religious affiliation is, please stop to think about what you are doing before you do it. And remember, the more wealth and power you control, the greater your responsibility to the rest of us.