The moral compass is broken, we can fix that.

Integrity is the adherence to moral and ethical principles and soundness of moral character(dictionary.com/integrity) it is a fundamental, and necessary building block that is largely lacking in our world today; be it through the action of some faceless conglomeration or by any one of untold nameless individuals.  Laws to me are a strange construct, it seems that they are a testament to our lack of integrity when viewing humanity as a whole.  The interesting thing is this:  were everyone to have a moral compass and furthermore live in accordance with that same compass there would be no cause for laws.

Integrity is not just some quaint turn of phrase for the convenience of appearing moral.  Integrity is a governing drive that colors every action we take and every choice that we make.  Our culture suffers from a result fixation that reinforces that the ends and outcomes can  in some way justify the means used to obtain those results.  After reading some salient point’s about ethics and corporations in Eldar’s Blog, it reaffirmed some of my own observances.  It is unfortunate that by and large our society has not only ignored the underlying implications of this resul- based fixation, but until fairly recently has actively encouraged such behavior.

I consider myself fortunate in that I was instilled with a sense of this rightness from an early age.  It has allowed me the opportunity to understand why morality is so often left by the wayside.  In the most simple sense it is a direct result of our continued preference for the more.  What I mean here is simply this: the mindset is that more is better; be it status, money, power, etc.  The more one has of any of it the better off they will be, but herein lies the rub.  Everything has a cost, and the quality (or lack there of) of our choices and actions will ultimately determine what that cost will be.  It is important to note that I am hopeful, because we as a society recognize this lack, because a problem identified is infinitely more solveable than a problem denied.  It is with this in mind that I am also thankful that we have the opportunity to be different, and we are not waiting to hear the rules – we are making our own.