Morality v. Economy

To the Editor:

David Brooks’s assertion that “our moral and economic system is based on individual responsibility” is an excellent example of his ability to turn language inside out.

There is no system that is both moral and economic. Individual responsibility in a moral system is based on ethics and good behavior. Individual responsibility in an economic system is based on financial success. The amorality of our economic system, with its indifference to the social consequences of its actions, is the problem.

Donald de Fano
Somerset, Mass., Feb. 20, 2009

This letter to the editor was so succinct and captured so much of what I try to say in this blog, that I thought I'd share it here. David Brooks in an earlier OpEd made the mistake of conflating morality and economy and this letter writer sets him straight.

 Morality adheres to principles of human behavior based on equity and what one should do with a focus on how to get into Heaven, or be One with the Universe. Economy is about getting the most for the least, optimizing outputs based on inputs, securing a good deal in the short term, or financial security in the long term. Economy begins and ends here on earth, bound by the gravity of finance. as much as physical gravity. Morality aspires to loftier purposes. 

Cake2Bread is about a return to focus on Morality after a long, distracting time spent focusing on Economy. My argument is that by returning to Morality, we will find Economy and financial security - but it may not be the financial success we seek. It may be, for instance, the security that comes from the embrace of a loving community, that intervenes to keep a roof over a family's head (but not to make that family rich). The road we take at this fork may ultimately lead to salvation, just not the salvation that comes from a large house, fast car, fat bank account, closet full of designer clothes, etc., etc., etc. 

In the end of his muddled argument, David Brooks stumbles upon a pearl of wisdom - we are in this together. Because the economy is a system that all participate in, we all have a stake in its outcomes, and too many people falling through the cracks creates bigger holes that can consume us all. We can't afford to let things unravel (I wish the Republicans were listening). In the end, if we begin to see the nation as a very large community of which we all are a part, then we will begin to discern wisdom. As a wise man once said in response to a question, "Am I my brother's keeper? Yes, you are."

And they [Obama adminstration] seem to understand the big thing. The nation’s economy is not just the sum of its individuals. It is an interwoven context that we all share. To stabilize that communal landscape, sometimes you have to shower money upon those who have been foolish or self-indulgent. The greedy idiots may be greedy idiots, but they are our countrymen. And at some level, we’re all in this together. If their lives don’t stabilize, then our lives don’t stabilize.