Ethics: The Ripple Effect

"Ethics is how we behave when we decide we belong together."
-- Brother David Steindl-Rast

I came across this definition of ethics while reading the book "The Trance of Scarcity" by Victoria Castle and it really resonated with me. In fact, I've been looking for a definition of ethics that got to the core issue of why people behave unethically and, in my mind, this is it. People bend the rules, take advantage, move the chips, because they don't realize that we're all connected and what you take that isn't yours does cause a ripple in the web that binds us all together.

Call it the golden rule, or karma, but what if we could see how our actions impact others before we take them? We tend to think if no one is looking or we can't think of anyone we know that it will impact negatively that it's o.k. to cut corners or claim something that isn't ours. It's also easy to do it when we think our actions only impact a business or corporation not remembering that a business is made up of the people that work there and the stockholders that own it. Some people feel more free to take advantage when it doesn't impact their immediate family or friends.

These intentions and actions are coming from the core idea that there isn't enough to go around and that we are all in competition for scare resources. I get awfully tired of thinking that there isn't enough... don't you? After decades of being a small business owner I've had plenty of opportunity to scare myself about the competition down the street, across town and overseas. In fact, I'm exhausted from that idea. I know it causes me to behave in ways that are counter-productive to my highest good and tempts me to cut corners and take advantage in ways that I should not.

Ethical behavior is much easier when I first remember that not only am I connected to everyone else, but that my actions affect us all and that there really is enough to go around.