Two-Tiered Morality

Barbara Ehrenreich had a good op-ed in the NY Times on Sunday. Writing in the wake of WorldCom collapse, as well as revelations that Wal-Mart's employees were forced to work off the clock, she observed,

What has been revealed in corporate America over the past six months is a two-tier system of morality: Low-paid employees are required to be hard-working, law-abiding, rule-respecting straight arrows. More than that, they are often expected to exhibit a selfless generosity toward the company, readily "donating" chunks of their time free of charge. Meanwhile, as we have learned from the cases of Enron, Adelphia, ImClone, WorldCom and others, many top executives have apparently felt free to do whatever they want — conceal debts, lie about profits, engage in insider trading — to the dismay and sometimes ruin of their shareholders.

But investors are not the only victims of the corporate crime wave. Workers also suffer from management greed and dishonesty. In Wal-Mart's case, the moral gravity of its infractions is compounded by the poverty of its "associates," many of whom are paid less than $10 an hour. As workers discover that their problem is not just a rogue store manager or "bad apple" but management as a whole, we can expect at the very least widespread cynicism, and perhaps an epidemic of rule-breaking from below.

She covers this issue, although not directly, in her book Nickel and Dimed. For a taste, check out the two essays which eventually wound up being the core of the book from the January 1999 and April 2000 issues of Harper's Magazine.