Chris Berry On The Net

Yesterday I wrote about the son of Senator Ted Stevens making a lucrative career out of trading on his father’s name. The case of Ben Stevens is remarkable since he truly had nothing to offer his clients other than access to his dad. In return for this access, he was paid millions of dollars in so-called consulting fees. I began to wonder how many people engage in some sort of fraudulent activity in the course of earning their livings. I’m not talking about blatantly criminal acts, but there are countless ways that average people can cheat their employers or customers to supplement their own incomes.

We’ve all seen salespeople deliberately steer a customer toward a product or service that doesn’t meet their needs because it will earn them a larger commission than the one the customer really wants. What about the mechanic who replaces perfectly good parts on your car? These are events that we have all experienced, but what does the practice say about sales people or mechanics in general? Are they all crooks, or do the actions of a few cause them all to suffer a loss of reputation?

What about the attorneys or the ad agencies who bill for an hours work for a task that only takes 5 minutes? How many people have ever punched in for a friend who was running late, or claimed personal meals on an expense report? How often do supervisors and managers claim credit for the ideas and accomplishments of their subordinates? Is this behavior so common that we should accept it as the norm, or do most of us hold ourselves to a higher standard?

I witnessed some amazing examples of corruption during my years in the commercial printing business. I knew sales reps who earned six figure incomes because their spouse happened to be the buyer for a major corporation. I saw corporate buyers who supposedly act in the best interest of their employers receive personal gifts ranging from wedding dresses to lavish vacations. It’s difficult to determine which party is more culpable in those cases; the ones offering the bribes or the ones who accept them.

Have you ever stopped to wonder how certain people are able to achieve positions of power in the first place? Have they cheated the system along the way, or do they have the talent and experience to justify their positions? Are personal connections worth more than competence on the job? How common is the practice of resume padding, and is exaggerating our accomplishments and responsibilities the same as making up degrees we’ve never earned? Is the practice so widespread that otherwise honest people have to lie in order to get noticed?

We see countless cases of borderline criminal fraud on television every day. My favorite examples are the infomercials that offer a 30 day trial period for an expensive product at a ridiculously low price. What they never mention is that the low price only covers the trial period and not the product itself. Then there are the medical supply companies who exist for the primary purpose of defrauding Medicare. Do the people who create these ads have a conscience, or are they oblivious to the consequences of their actions?

There are criminal acts that often get overlooked as well. What about the merchant who keeps the cash register drawer open to avoid ringing up every sale, or the used car dealer rolling back the mileage on a car. What about the predatory lenders or the slumlords? These people are often respected members of their community until they get caught. Even if their actions are blatant, people pretend not to notice until they become headline news.

I consider myself to be an honest person, but I admit that I am not perfect. I have worked for unscrupulous employers in the past, and I have refused to participate in actions that I found to be ethically dubious. I’ve passed up opportunities to earn a handsome income by engaging in questionable schemes, but I prefer a clear conscience to the ill-gotten gains.