Moral Limits of Market - Essay Example

Task Moral Limits of Market Introduction The moral limits of the market refer to how market values and practises took over various holdings and interests within the economy. As such, market values crowded out non-market norms in literally all the aspects of life, such as sports, art, law, medicine, government, education, as well as, family and other interpersonal relationships. This influence of market values in our everyday practises brings about a paradigm shift in modern economies from being a market economy to being a market society. As a result, most of the ethical values and morals that govern the economic practise of various activities within the society vanish as the market society sets in and takes over. In a market society, there are no longer free favours, but someone does something while expecting a return of the same, or a bonus for the service, even if it is their professional duty. This opens does to vices such as corruption, nepotism, bribery, and fraud in most economic settings, and the various state actors accept and embrace this as normalcy owing to the character and stature of the market society (Sandel 13). The Moral Limits of Markets Our society today is market driven, and as such, every action done in the market lacks the necessary courtesy or professionalism required in conducting it properly. As such, most of the activities are no longer for an economic gain, but for a personal or market gain. The markets have usurped their role in the modern economy by taking the center stage in a democratic society. By so doing, such markets do no longer stand on moral virtues and expected market practices, but can bend and twist in order to favor and support anyone who has the authority and power to manipulate it to serve his or her selfish interests (Sandel 17). Nowadays, it is very difficult to find a transparent and accountable official, who thrives on integrity and morality. This is because the market society forces everyone to compromise, and as such, questions their morals and virtues, especially in relation to what they stand to gain by twisting the rules and regulations slightly in favor of an influential individual, and the repercussions they have to bear for fighting to uphold and protect the law. For instance, the market society nowadays openly embraces corruption and bribery. As such, the market protects the corrupt and the immoral, persecutes the just, and fair in these markets. A good example is that of a police department, whereby a junior officer arrests a most wanted drug baron in the criminal syndicate. However, this criminal does not go through the entire wheel of justice to receive his rightful punishment for drugging the society. On the contrary, he gets out on bail moments later, and sometimes does not even see the insides of a court of law because he bribed the police commissioner, who granted his freedom in exchange for the bribe (Mayer 231). The junior officer thus, feels shunned and disrespected for the act done by his bosses. He on one hand is struggling to uphold integrity and accountability within the society by ridding it off such hardcore criminals. However, the market society has a loophole for these convicted criminals to buy their freedom once again. Our market society brought about numerous vices and immoral act that the society learned to embrace simply because it is a means of putting food on the table, or securing a good future. This leads to economists, as well as, other social developers and leaders to ask themselves a number of questions whose answers are almost vague and complicated. For instance, is it right for parents and guardians to pay school fees for their children to read books, or rather for them to get good grades that would guarantee them a good job in future? Is it right to issue payments to people so that they can participate in a new drug test that is very risky to their health, or to pay the same people to donate their vital body organs? In fact, the sale of human body parts is on the rise across the globe, both voluntary and illegal (Sandel 39). The market society brought about many problems, as well as, benefits in most world economies. For instance, most Africans fought together for the independence of their nations. However, once each nation got its independence, the market divided the black people in lines of power and wealth. The question still appears in the present, such as how justified a country is to hire mercenaries to fight its wars and protect its borders, or sending prisoners to for-profit prisons, or selling adoption to those willing to pay. Most economies are in total shambles because of the immorality brought about by the market society, which has total disregard to moral virtues and practices. Immoral activities gain wide acceptance by the society, which embraces them tenaciously, such as economic prostitution, corruption, bribery, smuggling, and embezzlement of public funds (Mayer 224). Poverty Gap The poverty gap in most economies, which is the distance between the rich and the poor in a given economic setting, is ever increasing. This is because of the greed and massive obsession that most people have for wealth. It reaches a time where an individual is willing to undergo anything just to become rich or to accumulate more wealth. People no longer disregard something as evil as long as it is an avenue of making them richer, or getting things done for them, even when it is their right. In fact, some economies like Thailand have put in place measures to legalise prostitution. Though the Thai government claims that this move is solely to protect the commercial sex workers by looking after their health and interests, it does not justify the billions of cash it collects from the industry as taxes every financial year (Skidelsky and Skidelsky 122). The market society is turning individuals into animals and savages owing to exemplified position of wealth and riches. The mark of prosperity no longer lies with the virtues and moral integrity of an individual but for wealth, he or she is able to amass for himself or herself. The rich do not get any satisfaction in collecting more wealth, and thus this becomes their lifelong obsession. The case is even worse whereby a few groups of people in the economy hold more than half of the wealth of a nation, while the rest of the millions of population scramble for the remaining pie, i.e. a country of ten millionaires and ten million paupers. Vices like corruption, embezzlement of public funds, and vote buying during elections are an accepted norm and practise by most citizens in the country practises in our money economy (Skidelsky and Skidelsky 122). The Wolf of Wall Street A modern day trailer of the moral limits of markets is evident through the book and movie titles ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.’ The book centres on a young chap, born into a poor family and struggles through his education. However, the young lad has enormous appetites for riches and wants to get it quick. Being a financial analyst, he joins a leading firm at Wall Street, the financial hub of New York, to work as a stockbroker. After learning the ropes of the trade for six months and acquiring his brokerage license, he ventures out to create his own firm. His philosophy about wealth drives him to commit every financial crime in order to fill up his pockets and bank accounts. He has no shame in duping people, sleeping around, or breaking all securities rules as long as this brings in an extra dollar into his coffers (Belfort 201). This is the ideology that every man and woman in the modern day society holds that as long as something brings in lots of wealth, then it is the right thing to do even if it is illegal or it breaks all the laws of the practise, like was the case in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.’ Many people are like wolves when it comes to making riches. There is no compassion and no remorse, just how much can I make or gain. Morals, virtues, and all other legal rules and regulations pertaining an activity, procedure or process disappear because the market society promotes and idolizes money as a way to buy out even the impossible. In such a market society, all the rules of the book are breakable and bendable in accordance to the value of compromise one is willing to make, especially in moneterized terms (Belfort 201). Conclusion The economy is the central pillar of every society. However, when this economy loses its morals, then it becomes unfair, thereby making it impossible for others to acquire or get access to certain products and services within the market freely. This has led to lack of virtues and immorality in the undertakings of various economic practises. As such, it is not enough to have the rights and privileges to a given opportunity or market. The most essential thing, as idolized by many, is the ability to bribe and bend the rules and regulations, such as through a fat wallet. This is because the society has idolised money to such an extent that money can buy life, buy justice, buy offices, buy freedom, and thereby disregard every teaching of the law. As such, the world ends up at the mercies of the rich, while the poor continue suffering with no hope of ever becoming successful. This is against both ethical and economic theories relating to the place of money in the society (Satz 44). Tables and Figures FBI – Mortgage Fraud Report of 2007 and 2010 Respectively Work Cited Belfort, Jordan. The Wolf of Wall Street. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2011. Print. Mayer, Susan. What Money Cannot Buy: Family Income and Childrens Life Chances. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1997. Print. Sandel, Michael. What Money Cannot Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets. London: Allen Lane, 2012. Print. Satz, Debra. Why Some Things should not be for Sale: The Moral Limits of Markets. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print. Skidelsky, Edward and Skidelsky Robert. How much is enough? Money and the Good Life. New York, NY: Other Press, LLC, 2013. Print. Read More