Ethical Lag: The New Reality
From the opinion page of the New York this morning we have the question of middle class inequality being addressed by Chrystia Freman.
I have heard from many people when i wax on about the inequality gap, that after all, we are still the best country to live in. They believe this despite the fact that it is growing to be less and less so. There is a concept called ethical laps that talks about it taking time for people to catch on to an effect that has happened some time ago. As we begin to watch inflation grow, we will be feeling the influence of the 2008 recession for many years to come...by the time that the higher income begin to feel it, the cause will seem to be out of sight and out of mind. This factor is used in politics to run elections--but it has very little to do with the reality on the "boots on the ground."
This concept of ethical laps borrowed from philosophy, works well in this instance. People still think that we are the deluxe America of post 1950. In fact we have been lowering our standard of living for most Americans, while substantially raising our sense of the upper-class mentality. We may, as the author suggested, be believing that we ought to try to emulate the very rich in a way to become like them in wealth; but that is a very flawed argument.
The lack of ethics in the corporatist world is not the ethic that curled itself around the American middle class in the second half of the last century. Middle class America fought for this country, not for wealth.
It seems that what is happening is a double standard has set in and it is so well established that it is almost difficult to separate it from the business class that it has settled into. For example, a company that I am personally familiar recently asked many of its line workers to chip in and help the company to grow. They were installing a new computer model that was going to make life easier for everyone. Company people some gladly some simply to follow the herd did that worked over time without pay and chipped in.
Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati