Bringing Back Ethics: "The Spirit of Law"

America needs to bring back morality and ethics into the private operations of corporations and in the mindset of individual citizens.

One hallmark of the modern world is that organizations, corporations and individuals try to find loopholes in the system that work for their advantage and then stand on the their principals and claim that they did nothing wrong when it blows up. This practice absolutely has to be ended.

The recent Wall Street meltdown is a primary example of this practice whereby the financial firms ultimately had a whole team of lawyers who tear apart every piece of legislation in order to find the gaps or the opportunities within the legislation that are open to them. They then proceed to find ways around the overseeing institutions such as the SEC in order to continue their actions. 

The obvious problem in this approach is that it undermines the intent of the legislation and results in border line illegal activities that benefit very few people but also serve to undermine society in general. Whether one sees intervention in the private sector as socialist or not it has been demonstrated time after time that if left to its own devices, the free market forces will do what is in their selfish best interest and then not be held accountable for any damage done to others.  They do this with a clear conscience as they are able to claim that they have technically done nothing illegal.

The issue is not that they have been able to usurp the legislation rather that what they have done, though not technically illegal, it is definitely 100% unethical.  Morality has gone out of the current American way of thinking.

However, in order to overcome this monstrous gap in America, weherby societal ethics have been abandoned by the "ME generation", what needs to be implemented are "Spirit of Law" provisions whereby the actual intent of the legislation is considered legally binding over and above the actual specifics of the legislation itself.

In today' world, it is pretty unrealistic to imagine that any legisaltive body would be able to create a set of rules that will cover every and all future situations that might arise or have yet to be imagined.

The "Spirit of Law" legal provision will make individuals and corporations legally bound to follow through on the intetnion of the legisaltion rather trying to find ways to circumvent it. Under the "Spirit of Law" mantra any entity that finds loopholes in legislation and then exploits them would be held criminally liable and subject to prosecution.

Americans have to embrace a mindset whereby they respect the intent and spirt of the US way of life rather than imagining ways to co opt it for their own selfish purposes. 

Precedent...It Doesn't Matter Anymore

Precedent is the quicksand of the American system and it is time to put that outdated concept to bed.

In our modern world, almost every issue has become so complex and ultimately very different from the next in terms of circumstance and context that no single legal, political or moral decision or action can rely on the thinking or actions that preceded it.

In business, the concept of zero-based planning starts with a tangible objective and does not take into consideration a predetermined budget, existing infrastructure or action-plan. One then creates a strategy and a corresponding action plan to fulfill the stated objective. This is the approach that needs to be under-taken moving forward in all areas of modern society.

For example, the most obvious area where precedent dominates is in the criminal world. Let's face it, the circumstances of any given violent crime is different than any other. Even in the simplest of crimes...say a street robbery...the intent, the motivation, the circumstances and the antagonists are very different. Therefore, why would other crimes be utilized in a trial or in a verdict? One can make the argument that perhaps in the sentencing process precedent can be utilized in terms of establishing punishment but in the facts of the case it is irrelevant.

Now, extrapolate this thought into terms of national and global politics, economics, social development, public policy etc. and why then would thinking or methodologies of the past be relevant in the 21st century? World events have to be considered in terms of modern conditions and not some by-gone era. By ignoring precedent the path can become clearer as new factors can be considered on their own merit. For example, dealing with a Muslim component in society has never been part of the American heritage so utilizing zero-based planning allows this fact to be considered whereby precedent has no relevant frame of reference.

Zero-based planning also has the primary benefit of ignoring and by-passing any existing limitations in strategic and action-plan development. An obvious area to highlight where this methodology can be extremely beneficial is in terms of governmental operations whereby political agenda and bureaucracy more often that not supersede effectiveness. By eliminating the necessity to consider political history, previous legislation and bureaucratic road blocks modern and efficient policies and programs can be developed that deliver the objective rather than be watered down to the point that they are virtually meaningless.

Precedent and current institutional conditions are too varied and bulky to the point that the limitations of previous actions prevent virtually any part of society from moving forward. Hence, the US has become stagnant and needs to free itself from it's own self-imposed shackles.