In the last few weeks America has seen its financial markets go through massive turmoil and its stocks dive into the mud. There have been more than enough fingers to point at any number of causes and more then a few people to blame. However, when one looks at the history of the last half century one must wonder if this current problem is not from something more subtle then a housing bubble.
- In the last fifty years America has moved from rural to urban areas. This may seem like a mute point, but is it? One of the strengths of rural areas is the strength of the local community. An individual in a small community is deeply affected by the social norms of that community. Norms such as ethics, morals and standards of treating others. In urban areas these norms quickly disappear in the autonomy of some many people. So in urban areas people are more likely to cheat, steal, and lie and more importantly not feel guilty about it.
- Big businesses like Wal-Mart have driven small local businesses out. That is a well recorded fact. That is how capitalism works. The strong replace the weak. Yet it seems that we are now feeling the effects of that not because small business is better for the economy in a financial sense but because big business has no conscience.
- An owner of a small store in a small town is held accountable. He must answer to his customers because the loss of a customer to that store owner is a serious thing. Wal-Mart and companies like it care little for a single customer simply due to the volume they deal with and because no one making company policy is actually dealing with the customers.
- The CEOs of these major companies do not care either about their companies or their customers. Many do not seem interested in creating profit or growing their company but seem only interested in turning their company into a money machine for themselves. There is such a thing as pride of ownership. A small business owner is more then the manager or investor in their company. They are its parents. The company is their child and they want to see it succeed for success's sake.
The reason we are now in the trouble is because we now longer are a country run by people wanting to gain the American dream but by corporate thugs that are looking to make a dollar even at the cost of their own company. Bad business is bad for business and ironically greed is very bad business. The solution to the problem now is the same thing that was the solution when Adam Smith wrote his book in 1776. Competition, Accountability, and Fair Business Practices. Small business owners understand these things because they would not continue in business for long without them. So why don't our leaders?
