Fair trade and profit motivated business were an everyday part of life in biblical times. A key issue mentioned, for example, in Chapter 8 of the book of Deuteronomy, is the danger of prosperity. However, it is not the obtaining of wealth that is considered sinful, but the failure to acknowledge the Lord’s hand in granting one the power to acquire this wealth.Social responsibility and the earning of fair profit can coexist. Successful companies recognize the essential connection of charitable giving to profit. McDonald’s Corporation has found that its Ronald McDonald Houses, created in the mid-1970s for sick children and families, have yielded tremendous social and financial benefits. Franchisers have found that after they run a Ronald McDonald House promotion in their restaurants, sales in that community increase significantly. Once again, in a fair and unfettered market economy, the activities of companies can be both socially beneficial, and at the same time, provide greater rewards to shareholders and management. It is obvious that business enterprises that adhere to the rules of democratic capitalism, have had a great impact on improving the human condition, perhaps greater than any social program concocted by government, or theorized by social activists. No reasonable person could argue against the recommendations made by Erich Fromm, regarding mans cruelty to others, protecting the environment, and dismantling the nuclear arsenal which threatens the very existence of the human race. Resolving issues of such magnitude will require courage, moral ethic, and strong leadership. However, the wholesale condemnation of capitalism and the profit motive on the basis of some threat they pose to mans survival cannot be justified. The historical record of the corporations in America indicates that the opposite is true. The positive changes that businesses have made on society are enormous. The common good has been w...
