Whose fault is it?

Lately there is criticism and anger directed at our institutions; government, financial sectors, medical systems etc. Taking part in discussions these days, I observe how passions quickly ignite into vengeance. Searching for the cause of the financial dilemma the world is in, we blame the institutions. Rightfully so, everyone agrees, look at how they have let us down.

Yet the organizations we rage at, are illusions; they do not exist, they are an abstraction of the truth. While expending energy focusing venom towards the conglomerates, we have forgotten that they are comprised of many individual people. Millions of individuals who make daily decisions. Decisions which slowly ripple into waves of grief engulfing their fellow neighbors. Are they evil? Do they lack intelligence? Are they greedy? To me none of these seem to be the answer. The beings comprising these organizations are people like you or me. People who care about their families. People who strive to do their best. People whose ultimate goal is to be happy.

The problem, I see, is that somewhere along the line, they chose a value. A value which is very important in our Northern American society, in my opinion, all over the world. With this value in their hearts, they decide issues powering these magnificent estlabishments.

What is this value? The value which influences every aspect of our lives. The value which commands admiration and respect.

The value is the acquisition of money... lots of it... the individual who has the most money wins our society’s most important awards; admiration, envy and emulation. So in this, if our highest value, is one of status and wealth, will we not make compromising decisions? If money is our ultimate measure of success, what will we choose when money is pitted against honesty or loyalty? Will we not rationalize that these small deviances from ethical behavior are smart business decisions?

And here is the rub... all of us are part of these systems. We the users who require better services. We the shareholders who demand results. We the people who create the values we follow. We the people.