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A Reactionary Voice Crying in the Wilderness Arden Dean, Editor-at-Large What Color Is Your Money?
What color is your money? Whenever I pass a twenty dollar bill, the clerk tests it with a marking pen. How precious is this simple color test that identifies worthless counterfeits! The US Mint is now beginning to follow the example of many countries who add color to their currency to make forgeries harder to make and easier to detect. Unfortunately, there is no magic marker test to find the lawbreakers within our society. How simple if society could detect and discard counterfeit behaviors before they corrupt the environment. Unfortunately, in a sophisticated society many things can be hidden and concealed and corruption is covered under a patina of pretty behavior and smooth words. When bad behavior has multiplied in secret, a subsequent revelation becomes dramatic and large-scale with drastic repercussions. We have only to look to spectacular poster-board-in-the-sky events in recent years to understand the economic consequences. Breaking the law undermines financial stability and leaves us all exposed to unexpected penalties and painful losses. A friend of mine is facing a prison term and witnessing the wreckage of his private, professional, and public life. His earnings are harsh and unforgiving for pitiable and passing pleasures. He rolls his finger on an ink pad, enters a felony database, and begins life in a dark shadowy world. Poor choices put him beyond the protective society he has known. A term in a penitentiary blocks the sun and isolates family and friends who are suddenly exposed and vulnerable. And so what color is your money has nothing to do with tint, hue, and shade. The color of money has everything to do with a tone of integrity, a type of civilized behavior, and the shadows that follow us wherever we go. If, from the example of my friend, some of us throw out garbage behavior, clean up polluted situations, and plot a more productive course, then what appeared to be a casualty can be turned into something that is of value. Counterfeit coins should be destroyed. Counterfeit bills should be replaced with the true and circulated to be effective and productive. | A society that is regulated by wise laws, covenants, and agreements has a governing framework that allows it to thrive and flourish. Lawbreaking is a kind of counterfeit coin that destroys the value of our economy. One lawbreaker affects us all. One person who steps outside the bounds puts us all at risk. When actions become public, doubt and suspicion enter. Trust is destroyed. Families and organizations are torn apart. Innocent investors and shareholders can be ruined overnight. Progress gets put on hold while courts take over. Law enforcement confiscates computers and peace of mind. Society points fingers at the lawbreaker and those who are associated with him suffer. The shadow cast becomes a cloud blocking out the light of inspiration; knowledge and innovation stagnate. Assets become liabilities and inventories are sold in a fire sale at a penny on the dollar. Living by the law in small and simple things establishes a type from which a productive society is built. Obedience requires all our resources of mind, will, and heart. In our business and political life we set a tone by everyday choices. As Kim B. Clark President of Brigham Young University Idaho and formerly Dean of Harvard Business School has said “The principle is quite clear, obedience in the small things creates a spirit of obedience in all things”. By enforcing the lesser laws Mayor Rudi Gulianni was able to transform New York City and return dangerous city streets to safety. In an enlightened and refined society choosing to live by higher standards both fuels and secures a vibrant economy. We are all vulnerable to theft, exploitation, and fraud. Our identities can be stolen and our reputation pirated away. While the theft of our numerical identity is a serious blow, the exposure of our true identity is even more devastating if built upon deceit and lies. The schism between our public identity and our private character is like a shadow - a constant companion, when revealed can bring triumph and victory or despair and subjugation. The choice is always ours whether to live by standards which withstand the light of day or to cover the kind of actions that disintegrate when exposed to the world. Indeed, by the small things a society becomes great and the color of money remains robust, durable, and significant. | ArdenDean, Inc., specializes in the Power to Produce Framework, Creating a More Intelligent Future, and Disrupting the Status Quo, and can be reached at 425-213-8775 or Contact Us.
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