Business without social conscience
The most grievous offense that the rich can inflict upon the poor (and if you will, also to the whole nation and to humanity as well), among many others, is the conscienceless greed for profit, the insatiable thirst for wealth, at the expense of human dignity, to the damage of the natural environment and to the ruin of government and public service. The evidence is abundant and indubitable, and one must be so blind and impervious not to be able to see and discern the harsh social and economic realities around today. Business taipans (and we exclude the few enlightened and responsible ones, of course), tycoons, moguls and magnates are still exploiting their workers, ravaging the environment, corrupting public officials including judges and the police, and cheating on taxes and customs duties.
These business top honchos pretend to donate to Catholic organizations and other religious universities some buildings named in their honor, or sponsor professorial chairs carrying the prestigious names of their conglomerates. And the religious institutions mindlessly and irresponsibly accept these donations which are nothing but public relations attempts to deodorize the images and reputations of business leaders who cheat their workers on wages and benefits. These are the very taipans that ravage our environment by operating mines that pollute our rivers, lakes, and seas, and irretrievably damage our maritime resources. These are the tycoons that rape our forests and destroy our natural environment, while also appearing on the cover of glossy magazines as donors in rescue and rehab projects for people who suffer from natural disasters and calamities.
These business moguls are corrupting our government officials, bribing purchasing officials and rigging our public biddings. They buy judges and fiscals and intervene in their appointments and promotions because they want decisions and purchase orders to be under their control and domination. These magnates of banks and food and commodities are buying the politicians by the millions or even billions, by funding electoral campaigns and putting congressmen and senators in their pockets. They even finance the surreptitious foreign travels of some Cabinet officials and their girlfriends or boyfriends, to attend boxing bouts or to shop for branded perfumes in Paris or diamonds in Amsterdam.
These business magnates can buy prestigious awards from what are usually seen as reputable award-giving bodies, in order to hide their closets filled with skeletons. These are the true but disguised scoundrels in our society who are being showered with adulation and awe, invited as commencement speakers (in exchange for generous donations), given church decorations and conferred honorific titles, all in order to deodorize their image and promote their businesses and brands. Oh my God, these famous people that we glorify are the ones smuggling goods, cheating on taxes, and evading labor wages to the tune of billions. And the nation worships them. What is happening to us?