Hi Jim,

>Doug,
>
>SNIP
>>
>>Good grief Jerry... You know as well as anyone else that the marketplace is amoral.
>SNIP
>
>My dictionary defines "amoral" as follows:
>"unconcerned with, or outside, morals; non-moral".
>
>The marketplace may well be 'designed' as an "amoral" entity but society expects businesses, and businesses expect businesses, to operate within a framework of morality. Morality in practises and morality in decisions.
>
>Trust remains the basis of much of business even today and trust is not "amoral".
>
>Sure we have laws, but more often than not even a law assumes a standard of morality. If they did not then they would read even more troublesomely than they do now (and your beloved lawyers would have even a tighter grip on things)!
>
>You've talked some on UT about the degenerating state of society. My contention is that it is the marketplace that is leading the way in this degeneration, especially since the demise of communism as a competing force.
>
>Your apparent yardstick for the success (read 'morality') of MS is that it has almost $50. BILLIONS in the bank. I don't believe that showing great profit has any link at all morality. Some might argue that showing massive profit is alone a strong indication of immorality.
>
>Capitalism without "morality" is, to me, just as bad as communism and possibly worse.

I quite agree with this last statement in particular. I think you may be thinking that because I assert that the marketplace is amoral that companies should be amoral. I do not take that position. I think that all companies should behave morally but I also recognize that many do not.

The 'tricky' part is manuvering through the notion(s) that a) the law always intrinsically moral or b) making broad assumptions that an entire company is amoral (or moral) based upon the behavior of a few within that company or c) we can make someone want to be moral by simply making noise or d) this world is intrinsically fair.

I think that all people should behave themselves in a moral fashion. Gosh, I'll even volunteer to provide a set of moral rules that I belives are universal in nature. (We have these kinds of discussions over in Chatter, remember? <g>) But I must view reality and (sadly) my country currently has discarded the fundamental basis for all morality and banned it from the public square. I'm not at all surprised that companies, who are comprised of individuals, each with their own particular moral 'take', will often exhibit immoral behavior. Most companies I know of have individuals who want their employees to behave in a morally positive fashion but have you hired anyone lately?

And yet we still want companies to bahave in a manner that only eminates from a source that we as a country are abandoning wholesale?

The problem IMO is far deeper than Microsoft. IMO they are perhaps just manifesting this issue as opposed to precipitating it.