Moral Autonomy v. Manipulative Character

"Corporatism is about crushing the capacity for moral choice."

[irony: even as it "increases" individual choice]

I read this line in an article called "America is in Need of a Moral Bailout." While the author's language is quite vituperative, I think his main point is a good one: Corporations have a manipulative character that has subverted our morals.

And to make matters worse, we have been complicit in their endeavor to the point that we now feel enraged yet helpless. "Who am I in the face of such greed, gluttony and malice?"

In this time of grave economic instability, we each need to take responsibility for ourselves and our own moral compass, or what Kant referred to as "moral autonomy."

Now, it is true that we learn how to behave within our social interactions with others (see Rene Girard's Theory of Mimetic Desire). But each of us is a member of society, and therefore we each can have an effect, however small, on the whole.

Therefore, let us be renewed for peace, love and equality,
repenting from our jealous, self-justifying and selfish ways.

And let us believe in a world where there is more love, peace and hope, and less hatred, war and despair.