Exxon Mobil Corporation announced the largest annual profit ever by a U.S. company - $40.6 billion! (they also held the previous record of $39.5 billion, which Exxon Mobil reported for 2006). This all at a time when record fuel prices are pushing up the cost of everything else - including food, heating, and transportation.
The quote, "The business of business is business", supposedly stated by Economist Milton Friedman, is drilled into Business majors in college. I certainly heard it when I was working toward my Masters Degree in Management. It goes along with the belief in a free market and capitalism. But how far should that mantra extend? Does business have any obligations or duties to the society in which it flourishes?
For many years, I've considered myself a conservative Christian and tended to vote Republican. Lately, I've become very uncomfortable about the strong ties between Republican policy and big business. Republican politicians seem to think that what is good for business is good for everybody. It bothered me that the first place that Mitt Romney visited upon arrival in Jacksonville during the Florida Primary campaign was Gate Petroleum. Republicans talk about conservative values and expect Christians to fall in line behind them. Is greed a conservative value? If it is, I guess I need to rethink the idea about being conservative. My Lord certainly spoke out against greed and taking advantage of the poor.
I'd probably give up on Republicans except that Democratic politicians leave me cold too.
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