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Questioning Assumptions – Following in Ben Franklin’s Footsteps

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

I have been listening to a lecture series about Benjamin Franklin, who was one of the most famous and most highly regarded of our founding fathers.  He was a printer, writer, inventor, scientist, statesman, and public-minded citizen.  One interesting aspect of Franklin’s character is that he was willing, even into his old age, to question his assumptions and to change his mind based on new information.  For example, in his younger days, he had supported the institution of slavery, assuming that Africans were inferior and suited to slavery.  However, in his old age, he visited a school for the children of freed slaves and was impressed that they were able to learn as well and as quickly as children of European descent.  This caused him to look at slavery in a whole new light, and he promptly became the president of an abolitionist society.  If the rest of us were as willing as Franklin to challenge our assumptions and to be willing to change our minds based on clear evidence, we would be much better off.

One of the assumptions shared by many people is that, as a rule, business managers are evil and unethical, while people who work for non-profits and government are good and ethical.  Unfortunately, this incorrect assumption colors many of views about public policy and about life in general, and those who accept such an assumption would be much better off to recognize that it is mistaken.  The fact is that we can cite examples of good, ethical people in every walk of life, and we similarly can cite examples of those who are unscrupulous in every walk of life.  However, before we make an assumption that most people in a particular field are evil or crooked, and before we use that assumption as a basis for establishing public policy, we ought to look at both the facts and the logic.

For example, for every Enron, there are thousands of businesses managed by people who are honest, play by the rules, and try to maximize the profits for their shareholders by doing a better job serving their customers.  In my experience, business people tend to be more honest and ethical than people in other fields, because competition forces them in that direction.  As a business person, if you want a customer to buy from you a second time, you have to make sure he has a good experience the first time.  If you want good employees to stay with you and help you be profitable, you have to treat them well, because your competitors would love to hire them away from you.  And, if you want people to invest in your company, you have to convince them that you are going to continue to treat your customers and employees well so you will continue to be profitable in the future.  So, if you want to be a crook or if you want to mistreat people, the for-profit business sector is probably not a good place for you.

On the other hand, certain non-profit and government jobs tend to attract people who are more unscrupulous than the average, because they do not have the pressure of competition to keep them in check and because they offer power that can be abused.  For example, people who like to “lord it over others” and “throw their weight around” are attracted to some government jobs (i.e. policemen, teachers, zoning officers, etc.), which give them that opportunity to a far greater extent than private sector jobs.  And people who are really unscrupulous and seek bribes, kickbacks, special “deals” and other forms of ill-gotten gain find much greater opportunity in government jobs than in the private sector.  For example, government regulators can craft a regulation to favor someone who favors them (i.e. regulations that favored Enron); government enforcers can turn a blind eye to their “friends”; government appropriators can appropriate funds to subsidize those who will subsidize them, and so forth.  While it may appear that the businesses who lobby for the government favors are the crooks, they are merely operating within the system that has been rigged by the crooked government workers.  The favors they are requesting are only possible due to the excessive power and lack of accountability of the government officials. 

While government is the worst of the abusers, because it has the most power, the reduced level of accountability in non-profits also makes them attractive to unscrupulous people.  One of the most egregious examples of unethical people who have been attracted to a non-profit field is the Catholic priests who took advantage of their trusted positions to molest children.  Obviously, not all priests are child molesters, just as not all business people are crooks, but the priesthood certainly has attracted a higher percentage of molesters than have other jobs, due to the opportunity and lack of accountability.   

The fact is that power corrupts, and a lack of accountability provides a greater opportunity for the corruption to go undetected and unchallenged.  The greatest amount of power and the least amount of accountability are to be found in government jobs, which carry the force of law, where imprisonment and even death can result if you don’t comply.  On the other hand, people who operate in for-profit businesses have very little power over others, because their employees and customers are always free to go elsewhere.  At the same time, the for-profit workers have a great deal of accountability, because their failure to do their jobs well is quickly reflected in their failure to produce a profit. 

So, the next time you think there ought to be another law, maybe you’ll stop and think about the abuse that might be enabled by that law.  If you do, Ben Franklin would be proud of you!   

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