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his court. When formalities had been set aside, he asked them an unusual question: What would it take for them to eat the bodies of their dead fathers? The Greeks were disgusted. They responded to Darius that no amount of money, in fact, no earthly riches at all, could make them eat their fathers bodies. Fair enough, Darius responded. He then called forth some Indians from the Callatiae tribe, who did indeed eat their deceased parents, and asked them what it would take for them to instead burn their ancestors bodies (as was the custom of the Greeks). The Callatiae were disgusted. They said that under no circumstances would they ever consider performing such a heinous act. Presumably, the point that Darius was trying to make is that rituals and beliefs are relative. Different people believe different things, and much of our moral constitution is a product of our environment. Thus, what is repulsive to one society may be perfectly acceptable to another. Or as Gordon Marino says in the introduction to the book Ethics, The Essential Writings: Custom is King. Today the problem of cultural relativism is as prevalent as ever. We see it manifested in wars, political disagreements, religious clashes and, increasingly, business. In the United States, the Justice Department is cracking down on those who pay corporate bribes to foreign government officials, a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. On the surface, this sounds like a good thing. After all, we want our businesses to act in an ethical manner. The problem, however, is that in many of these countries, bribery is the norm. As such, companies that do not engage in paying it forward, can find themselves on the losing end in the competition for potentially huge paydays. Thus while the Justice Department has been gaining some major victories, they may be coming at the expense of American companies and their shareholders.
should not but simply to point out the problems with using the law as the final say in the case against corporate bribery.