Towards a Better World through
Self-Transformation
- In the
context of Business & Industry -
The rise of Business corporations has led to the
separation of ownership and management. The field of work and responsibility of
the enterpreneurs and the executives are now more or less distinct than was the
case in business and Industry, let’s say, about a hundred years ago. In this
treatise, the two have, therefore, been divided so as to have clear focus on
each. We will take up, first, the theme of ‘Transformation of the self, in the
context of ownership or enter-preneurship.
Part-I
Profits,
based on such Values as integrity and social wellbeing
Firstly, it has often been held that business and industry are for monetary gain. No one would say that the profit motive should not be there. After all, anyone who invests money would naturally like to have good financial returns. It is a common observation that monetary gain does motivate human activity and there is nothing wrong in this because all of us do require money so as to fulfil many of our life’s needs.
But let us remember
that the efforts to attain satisfaction of material needs is different from the
effort to satisfy unending ‘greed’. Material incentives and the efforts to
acquire material comforts do have their proper place and socially-approved
forms but they are justified to a point.The ways of making and accumulating
money can be good or bad. So, there are certain moral principles and values to
be observed in this regard. For example, we have to have integrity and our
profits and accumulations have not to be at the cost of the social wellbeing.
The problem is that the observation of the aforesaid principles differs from person to person. In quite a few cases, one finds that what is called ‘business-civilisation’ in the west, or is known as ‘the baniya-mentality’ in this country, has set before those persons the aim of “getting as much as possible and giving as little as possible in return”.
Now, profit is alright
but this money-minting motive, even by foul means or by ways detrimental to the
interests of the society, is wrong, for it makes a businessperson lose his
judgement. It makes him throw all moral principles to the winds. A person with
this mentality loses his sense of social and distributive justice. He develops
the mind-set of “all for the self”. It is this motive of selfishness and greed
that leads to many malpractices, including over-charging, underbilling,
tax-evasion, adoption of unfair, dishonest and illegal means, etc., So, the
motives of money-making, and such acquisition and accumulation as harm and hurt
a society, have to be subject to two criteria -- (1) Whether it is fair
to all concerned and (2) whether it accompanies the thought of social
wellbeing or social good.
Let us remember that, in this era of business and industrial corporations, man’s capacity to acquire, to accumulate, to possess and to indulge in all malpractices has increased manifold. At least some are indulging in all these and one can say that, if this tendency is not subordinated to the motive of social good, it will play havoc with the moral climate which is already polluted. Today, the growth of credit institutions, the interlacing of business and government, the demands of politicians for large donations by Businesshouses to their electoral funds, the necessity of licences and permits --more or less-- and many other factors have enlarged the range and scope of malpractices.
At lease some, if not all of them, invite
businesshouses to commit anti-social, illegal and morally wrong acts. The above
factors make possible great concentration of wealth and power and, all these
together, bring new and vast opportunities of wrong-doing. The recent Security
Scam, in India, involving many persons in various professions, may be cited as
one among many instances of this kind. It takes imagination to see how the new
situations have opened new gateways to greed and to easy money so that a man
who was very honest till yesterday in his private and public life is tempted to
become rich quickly by using unfair means.
Surrender
to Temptations leads to negative transformation
Business and Industry, big or small, always had, with
it, some allurements and temptations. But, today, it offers more and higher
incentives of easy money so as to grow rich overnight. It brings us face to
face with situations in which one can easily make profits by unfair means and
can satisfy part of his greed. On such occasions, one’s integrity or morality
is under test. It is for these trying times that one must pledge for
maintaining moral uprightness for, otherwise, negative transformation takes
place. It has often been found that many businessmen and industrialists fall a
willing prey to these temptations by using the psychological mechanisms of
rationalisation, resignation, regression or fixation on the following grounds :
1.
Negative transformation through Rationalisation & Resignation
(A) In the face of temptations, some people try to rationalise their dishonest or unfair acts by giving the reason that everyone else also is doing these acts and that one cannot survive if one does not do these. They say that the whole atmosphere is so vitiated that they have to fall in line with others because they alone cannot change it. In fact, they also have an undercurrent of the desire to make money even by unfair means as others are making, yet they often conceal this motive, saying that, personally, they are against these acts but are compelled to do such acts, for the present social and economic climate is such. Thus, they have mentally resigned themselves to the corrupt situation and make various attempts to rationalise and, thus, justify their immoral behaviour.
They do not have the will to take
an initiative to set a good example in this regard. In fact, the reason that
it is a vicious society could have led them to make a commitment that they are
not going to be a party to this and it could have strengthened their will but
they wrongly use this reason for their own moral downfall! They are
unnecessarily making it a survival issue as if the species of moral men would
become extinct if they stick to moral principles any longer!!
(i) Such people fail to appreciate that the vicious
situation will never end, or even become mild, if everyone attempts to
rationalise this wrong on the ground that, since all others are doing it, so he
also has to do it. To set wrong things right, someone has to have the
courage of conviction and to stand firmly on principles so that others can
follow his lead. Moreover, why should a person follow the corrupt lot? Why
should he not set an example unto others and say, look, this is the way to break
the vicious circle and here do I stand so that others can take the clue?
(ii) Further, if others are doing a morally wrong act,
why should he contribute the wrong act to strengthen the evil forces? Even if
he had become a lone example, he would have made a good start to weaken or
lessen at least that much evil in the world. Will it not be a great and
memorable contribution by him? Are not the brave and the courageous people less
in number than the cowards or the ordinary? Does he wish to join the crowd of
those who are, morally, cowards? Why should he have the defeatist mentality and
lay down his arms of honesty, integrity and good conscience at the sight of a
temptation?
(iii) Moreover,
if many are doing morally wrong acts, does that really justify a morally wrong
act by him? Will that save him from the punishment that his wrong act will
necessarily invite? Does the law of Karma become impotent, inapplicable,
ineffective or unenforceable if many violate it? The excuse that many are doing
this wrong act will not get him excused from the due punishment. Or, will it?
(iv) Furthermore, does the act of following the wrong
steps of others not lead a person to the edge of the precipice from where there
is a fall down there? Does this not lead a person to throttling the voice of
his conscience or slaying it finally and then to trying to escape from
punishment by saying that others also are accomplices? Which law book provides
for remission or pardon for such acts if these are done knowingly, willingly
and repeatedly?
(v) Again, does one not go on adding to the debit of one’s Karmas by violating moral principles in one’s actions? Having money on the credit side and incurring moral losses that go to the debit side! After all, money gets us only material goods and comforts whereas we require peace of mind, positive health, happy relations and harmony with our conscience also to live a happy life. Are we willing to sacrifice all other prizes of life for the sake of ill-gotten money only? What business or bargain is this? What effort or Industry (which means: `hard work') is this that leads to material progress on the one hand but to huge moral and spiritual losses on the other hand!
(B) Some others rationalise wrong doing on the plea
that their business and industrial activity is providing jobs to so many others
and all those are, thus, able to provide for their respective family-members
and dependents. So, they say that they are doing this for a good cause and for
a laudable purpose. They further say that, out of the profits they are making
by unfair means, they are donating large amounts for philanthropic and
charitable purposes to various Trusts and that they are thus working for social
good also.
(i) This again is a wrong plea, for though, visibly,
they are doing social good, they are, invisibly, corrupting the morals and
leading the society to its downfall. They cannot see that despite the
charitable activities sustained by money, earned by unfair means, disease,
poverty, crime, and sufferings have not ended and have not even lessened. On
the other hand, crime, tension, diseases, poverty, etc. have become aggravated
because people have lost their morals and are being sustained by immoral means.
Even the sage Valmiki had given the same reason for his acts of robbery or dacoity.
He also had said that he did that act because he had to sustain his family and
dependents. Let us ask ourselves “Can wages without work, wealth
without virtue, accummulations without social purpose, earnings without
honesty bring happiness that is unsullied by
sufferings?" That is really a big question.
(ii) It should be remembered that immorality is like
pests. It is like worms that eat or spoil a crop. One’s selfish motive saps the
happiness content from the money one earns. One’s unfair acts destroy at least
a part of the nourishing element of his
income. Lasting good cannot be done through bad means. Therefore, it has
been rightly said that means are as important as the ends.
Let us, therefore, give up this kind of
rationalisation and resignation and, taking up cudgels in our hands, stand firm
in faith of God and virtue. Let us remember that money, earned by unfair means
never profits one self or one’s family. Ill-gotten is always ill-spent. Let us,
therefore, work for our positive transformation rather than allow negative
transformation to overtake us because negative transformation will bring
negative results.
Contd....Part 2
Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya
