Looking at the chaos in the world today, it becomes tiring to see everywhere selfishness, entitlement, narcissism, depravity, a complete lack of integrity, and the desire to live only for one’s own needs. From our neighbours to the people having the highest positions in our society, everyone’s behaviour appears upside down. You might wonder why that is.
In this era drowned in easy-going ethics and relative judgment, we should not be surprised that corruption, crime, depravation, selfishness are the elements dominating our society. People no longer feel shocked to see naked individuals on the street, CEOs looting the treasuries of their publicly traded companies, or state leaders engaging in corruption with evidence in plain sight.
What the hell Happened?
The shocking element is now the lack of an answer to a question that is not so often asked, friend. That question is: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO INTEGRITY? The erosion of standards of behaviour has removed the concept of conscience and has eliminated shame as a factor in one’s behaviour.
How can someone be ashamed of breaking standards of behaviour if there are none to break?
In a time when the “anything goes” approach to life may seem unstoppable, many of us still believe that standards of behaviour, conscience, and integrity remain essential if we want a functional, moral, and just society.
If you are one of them, friend, come along on this journey of exploration. Let us examine, once more, the steps you need to take to ensure that you, your family, your business, and your community can operate with high standards of integrity.
THE NEED FOR INTEGRITY
We urgently need to restore faith in moral and just principles in our society. When an individual, a family, a business fails in their values, the decay that follows will always be from the inside. Some time in the last decades, we began viewing values as expensive assets and relics of the old. We replaced them with lies and false promises of hollow ideals that one could acquire instantly.
The result is a world, created to prevail on convenience, laziness and treachery. A world of enjoying excesses of luxury, dishonesty and depravity without repercussions, while drifting away from commitment, courage, and reciprocity. And so, friend, we ended up today with public scandals that continue to erode of faith and confidence in political leaders, law enforcement, the educational system and even the closest of friends.
As grim as this may be, the treachery and immorality we observe have created a willingness to discuss ethics and values once more. You and I should stand ready for that discussion. We must examine the ethical challenges we face in public and in private to rebuild an integrity-centred world.
TIME TO RESTORE TRUST
It is time, friend, to restore trust. It is time to work harder to build a world in which people do what they say they will do. Let us build a society in which people are direct and honest in their communication. Let us create a world where a handshake solidifies a promise much more than any legal contract does.
The time has come to strengthen the way businesses and institutions operate and how they communicate and treat their customers, employees, communities and the general public. It is time for you to realise that your everyday actions impact society more than you even imagine. How you spend your time, your attention, your resources, what actions you take and how you treat others in your small world will eventually spread to the larger scale.
Personal Action Reflects in Society
Business partnerships, just as personal relationships, require consistent performance demonstrating the elements that form trust and underline integrity. If you are tired of the scandals that have shaken faith in elected officials, law enforcement, corporate leadership, and even your own personal relationships, it is time to take a stance.
Families, communities, economies, and society as a whole cannot function without trust. And trust can and must be restored. This is simply the introduction to a series of articles that will come. A series in which we will explore ways to rebuild our world from the present, one honourable, fair and just action at a time.
WILL YOU JOIN THE FIGHT?
Are you honest enough to observe the problem and daring enough to take appropriate “self-regulating” actions to restore honesty and integrity in our world, or are you comfortable with the ignorance and comfort that deceit and dishonesty might bring you in the short term?
One answer will build a world in which we thrive, the other will pull you down a path of decay and depravation that will disintegrate your soul and leave you empty and wanting.
Your choice will impact not only you!
