Paper #3

Personal Philosophy of Business

1
[TYPE THE COMPANY NAME]

Personal Philosophy of
Business
Paper #3
Alex Johnson
11/23/2014

Philosophy of Business in Society

My Philosophy of Business in the Society

My philosophy of business is simple; define it and control it. If a society intends to let
businesses run free and let economic independence rule, then do that. If they state wishes to
control its trade and commerce, then let the state control its economics. The problems come from
when a business exploits the state and harms the society that hosts it.
To each point is a different train of thought and philosophy, especially for myself. On one
hand is the ideas of independence that is sheltered within economic freedom. Such schools of
thought often get lumped into and lie in capitalism. To an extent capitalism is a fantastic
expression of economic freedom, and I agree with it to a certain point. When I refer to capitalism
I mean it in the way that Merriam Webster defines it in its online dictionary. Defined as A way
of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products are
owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government. (MerriamWebster, 2014). This sense of ownership and economic freedom is necessary, allowing ambition
to drive the average man to potentially work harder. Examples of the success of capitalism are all
over the world now; from apple in California to AliBaba Express in China, these are examples of
individuals creating business through insight and initiative. Allowing freedom of common
commerce is a staple of the American way. As the world progresses it also has shifted toward
economic liberty, allowing for the sharing of ideas and the evolution of trade. In capitalist
economies freedom to excel is encouraged. Such freedom is written about by such authors as
Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged & The Fountainhead). While warnings about totalitarianism are
written by ,most notably, George Orwell (Animal Farm & 1984). Both Rand and Orwell stress

Philosophy of Business in Society

the importance of the power of individualism and the freedoms to which it entitles people. These
authors also warn of the destructive power of such controlling bodies like communism. However
they dont speak or warn to the dangers in which total freedom has lying malignant inside it. The
darker side of capitalism is a human trait that almost all are victim too, greed. German
philosopher Friedrich Engles said From the first day to this, sheer greed was the driving spirit
of civilization (Engles, 1884). The Greek philosopher Plato also recognized this tendency to
greed, and in his work The Republic ( (Plato, 380 B.C.) he outlines mans tendency to greed. In
The Republic he tells the story of the Ring of Gyges, which allows the wearer to become
invisible. When given this power he says that man will act in his own interest, regardless of the
well being of others. In recent history we have seen such greed repeated and repeated, examples
being the 2008 Financial Crisis, the Enron collapse; which cost 4,000 people their jobs and life
savings (Valenti, 2002), and schemes such as the Madoff Ponzi Scheme; which cost 17.5 billion
dollars (Larson, 2014). So as good and ambitious as capitalist business is, it must be governed.
However the issue of a governing body brings up the question of, who should over see it?
To this question stand the polar opposite of capitalism, communism. Now to stop the
reader from dismissing communism, let me first define it. I mean communism as written by Karl
Marx, not the corrupted forms we see attempted by such vassals as the former Soviet Union and
Cuba. These mutations were killed by the same toxin that they claim corrupts capitalism,
corruption and greed. This avarice led to a sacrilege of the pure communist belief of class
equality. Karl Marx saw that capitalism creates classes, going so far as to say, The history of all
previous societies has been the history of class struggles (Marx, 1848). He believed that each
man should be equal, no higher or lower classes. In theory this would help deteriorate greed, thus
making businesses more stable and beneficial to society. Though as most theories go, it is in the

Philosophy of Business in Society

application that the hopes of success die. To its credit; communism outlines a society in which
economic trade is regulated by a central, just, body; and the concern of private property is totally
abolished. If trade is regulated it cant fail due to human avarice. So this being considered, if you
wish to control business and its trade then it must be done totally, and fairly. However this
requires a corrupt less, almost divine, governing body. This governing body is unrealistic, which
leads to my personal philosophy of business.
For some unknown reason Americans have developed an idea that if youre not a
capitalist you must be a socialist. This same thinking has created an illusion that communism is
completely and totally evil and to be absolutely avoided. This path of thinking has resulted in a
two party system, which was warned of by the first president of the United States, George
Washington. President Washington said, However [political parties] may now and then answer
popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by
which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the
people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very
engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. (Washington, 1796). Unfortunately most
believe that since it isnt communism, our form of capitalism is the best option. But why can we
not make applicable the bits of communism and capitalism that are most desirable? In my mind
we can, and should, combine the two political theories. The enlightenment is over, the red scare
of the 1960s is long dead, we shouldnt fear communism. A business being regulated by an
unbiased body is an excellent idea that would solve a lot of problems caused by human error.
Government that isnt terminally infected by catatonic officials and free of the greed which
business brings would be an ideal and just one. Allowing the governing body to serve the people
and keep businesses in check. This unbiased regulation would lead to actual oversight and, when

Philosophy of Business in Society

necessary, punishment of avarice. No longer could events like the California power outages
caused by Enron be possible. A business must be kept in check, not only for its own stability but
also the well being of the society.
As a final form of my philosophy, a business is obligated to people. It cannot act as a
parasite, leaching to society, eventually killing its host. Without humans a corporation is an
empty structure. To apply the freedom and ambition of capitalism is desirable in a society. This
must also be ruled and regulated by the authentic pure governing body of communism. Much
like politics, either extreme is ungenuine and doomed to fail, or bust. A love of money or
power is the route to societal destruction. Government must serve society, and likewise business
must serve society. It is a moral obligation for a business to be symbiotic, not parasitic.

An organization, no matter how well designed, is only as good as the people who live and work
in it
-Dee Hock, Founder and Former CEO of Visa Credit Card Association.

Philosophy of Business in Society

Bibliography

Engles, F. (1884). Origins of the Family, Private Property, and The State. Germany.
Larson, E. (2014, November 21). Madoff Scorecard. Retrieved from www.bloomberg.com:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-20/madoff-bankruptcy-costs-top-1-billion-sixyears-later.html
Marx, K. (1848). Communist Mannifesto. United Kingdom.
Merriam-Webster. (2014, November 24). Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved from
www.merriam-webster.com: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capitalism
Plato. (380 B.C.). The Republic. Athens.
Valenti, C. (2002, November 27). A Year After Enron, Whats Changed? Retrieved from
http://abcnews.go.com: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=86817&page=1
Washington, G. (1796). Farewell Address. Philidelphia.

Philosophy of Business in Society