Virtue:
Distributive Justice
Other names:
Definition:
Justice between an individual and the community
"regulates what the community owes its citizens in proportion to their contributions and needs" (CCC 2411)
Advice:
Empirical Research:
Case examples:
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Further reading:
Vices opposed:
Favoritism (often translated from Latin as "Respect of Persons")
Case Study
ReplyDeleteIn his book, More Than a Hobby, Hobby Lobby founder David Green explains how he dealt with a particular problem of justice that arose from doing business in a part of the world where injustice in the collection and distribution of public goods was endemic to the whole political system. "When we organized a buying office in a certain country, we made it known at the outset that Hobby Lobby would be paying its full share of taxes. The national employees we had hired were very good people, but they still could hardly believe this particular policy. 'Nobody pays full taxes in this country!' they explained. 'If you do, your money just goes into the pockets of corrupt politicians.'
"'Well,' I replied,'that’s not my problem to solve. We’re going to do what the law says, regardless.' They shook their heads in wonderment.
"After we had filed a few tax returns, the country’s tax authority stopped by to audit us. They came to a strange conclusion. 'You’re paying more taxes than some large corporations,' they declared. 'You shouldn’t be doing this.'
"When I heard the story, I asked myself, Now why would a tax agent say something like that?
"I finally figured out the angle. If we started cutting corners like everyone else, they would have grounds to say, 'You’re cheating the government. We’re going to have to take you to court—unless you want to, uh...' and the invitation to bribery would have been underway.
I told our employees later, 'Do you see how this kind of behavior is hurting your country? No wonder the roads aren’t being fixed, the schools aren’t being improved, and all the rest. Too much money is being diverted from what the people actually need.' Over the long haul, this particular office has proved to be successful for our company. I personally think it has something to do with operating with integrity, despite the prevailing climate." (David Green, More Than a Hobby, ch. 9)
Case Study
ReplyDeleteIn an time when workers' conditions were often appalling, Heinz Ketchup founder H. J. Heinz worked to ensure that his company provided for the human needs of his employees above and beyond mere monetary compensation, as Quentin Skrebec explains in H. J. Heinz: A Biography. "Heinz pioneered human relations departments (which he called the 'Sociological Department'), and won as many gold medals for his innovative employee management systems as he did for his 57 varieties. He promoted women managers to supervise his predominantly female work force. He took poor immigrant wives and daughters, taught them English and homemaking skills and prepared them for citizenship tests...Company doctors gave employees free medical aid; there were company dentists, manicures, carriage rides, free concerts, athletic facilities, and family outings." (Skrebac, Jr., H. J. Heinz, p. 6)
Case Study
ReplyDeleteWhile moving between Baltimore and Pittsburgh, Heinz Ketchup founder H. J. Heinz witnessed the effects of the nationwide Railroad Strike of 1877 firsthand. "On the 21st [of July]," explains Quentin Skrebac, author of H. J. Heinz: A Biography, "Pittsburg erupted in riots and the state militia arrived. Tracks were torn up and cars burned. The unemployed and street gangs joined in the riot. Shooting broke out on both sides. By July 21 of 1877, 20 had been killed, including the sheriff, with hundreds of wounded lying on the sidewalks. Pittsburgh's Catholic Bishop Tuigg walked the streets giving last rites to the wounded; another nine would die in the streets." (76)
Heinz's factory stood only a few blocks away from the riots. Having lately emerged from dire economic straits himself during the Panic of 1873, the social unrest of the era made a profound impact on his thinking and business practices. "Most capitalists of the day blamed the rise of unions and the influx of foreign ideas like socialism. Heinz saw it as a basic problem of fear of not being able to feed the family, something he had recently experienced. He also agreed with the German capitalists and most Germans that poor working conditions would lead to socialism. Heinz was also closer to the economic plight of the 1870s than most capitalists of the day. His travels took him to the heart of struggling cities, and his home was in the heart of Pittsburgh, not in the right suburbs of the time." (77)
When Heinz opened his new factory in Allegheny City in the 1890s, he designed it to better address the basic needs and overall wellbeing of the working class. "Lunchrooms and restrooms were spotlessly maintained. The restrooms included running water, something few employees had in their homes. There was daily availability to doctors and dentists for the workers. Heinz was one of the earliest to believe that dental care and general health were interrelated… Roof relaxation areas included music, plants and refreshments. There was a type of center court for larger musical events and rallies. For many women, the Heinz factory was far superior to the homes they returned to in the evening. Heinz saw his Allegheny City factory as a new ideal in manufacturing." (114)
Skrebac notes that Heinz's approach stands in sharp contrast to that of his contemporary, Andrew Carnegie, whose facilities were primitive by comparison. (113) As a businessman, Heinz sought to ensure that his practices would strengthen the community as a whole. (Skrebac, Jr., H. J. Heinz, pp. 76, 77, 113, 114)
Case Study
ReplyDeleteHeinz Ketchup founder H. J. Heinz played a small but significant role in the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act under Theodore Roosevelt. As Quentin Skrabec, Jr. explains in H. J. Heinz: A Biography, Heinz offered valuable support from inside the food industry to the Department of Agriculture's chief chemist, Harvey Wiley. "In 1902, H. J. Heinz formally joined the purity fight he had been involved in for years. More importantly, Heinz brought two able lieutenants to the fight - Howard Heinz and Sebastian Mueller. Howard had well heeled political connections from Yale, and Mueller was a food manufacturing expert. Mueller had become a national expert and was often called to Washington for consultation with lawmakers. H. J. Heinz had close ties with McKinley, but President Roosevelt was less of a political contact. Howard Heinz, however, had those needed blue blood ties to Roosevelt from his Yale connections. Furthermore, H. J. Heinz was a large contributor to the Republican Party, which could grease the path. H. J. also had an inside friend, neighbor, senator, Secretary of the Treasury Philander Knox. Heinz Company gave Wiley the industry support which had been lacking. In this respect, H. J. Heinz changed the balance of Wiley's crusade." (151)
At the time, much of the food industry was deeply hostile to Wiley. "Ketchup producers other than Heinz formed a 'ketchup lobby' to oppose food purity laws. Williams Company, the second largest U.S. ketchup producer, headed the opposition. Williams was opposed to the potential elimination of preservatives, which it deemed necessary for ketchup production. The fear of the elimination of preservatives brought Campbell Preserve Company into the opposition as well. Without Heinz, industry opposition would have crushed Wiley's effort for purity laws." (152) (Skrabec, Jr., H. J. Heinz, pp. 151 and 152)
Case Study
ReplyDeleteAs an active member of the Pittsburgh community, Heinz Ketchup founder H. J. Heinz helped to finance a broad survey of social conditions in the area that was carried out by a nonprofit organization from New York. "Heinz was almost alone among Pittsburgh's millionaires in demanding the survey, but Heinz was also almost alone in his wealthy neighborhood; most had built mansions in other cities far from Pittsburgh's social problems. Pittsburgh had just been highlighted by the New York Times as the home of millionaires, and many feared negative publicity...These men were under great scrutiny with the 1907 recession, and a survey of the workers would not be good news. These capitalists tried to put pressure on the reform politicians not to move forward with the survey. The survey would eventually cost many of the reformers their jobs, but in 1907, an army of social scientists and experts descended on the city. These experts interviewed and studied the budgets of Pittsburgh families. They crawled through sewers, tenant housing, and hospitals. They interviewed the slum dwellers. Companies reluctantly gave details of their wage structure and benefits. County records were gathered on industrial accidents. The data collection of the survey was truly amazing even when judged by today's standards. The final report in 1911 would consist of six large volumes and remains today the best statistical analysis of the period." (182)
H. J. Heinz and his son Howard worked through local civic organizations in an attempt to address the staggering problems revealed by the survey. Their efforts would help to spur other businessmen into action as well. "The survey did wake the conscience of many industrialists. Two steel executives that Heinz had worked with on civic committees were particularly touched. These were William Dickson, then first vice-president of United States Steel, and Alva Dinkey, the plant manager of the vast Homestead Steel Works, which came under heavy criticism. Dickson was clearly moved by the survey, professing that it changed his life, likening to Abe Lincoln seeing the abuse of slaves as a youth and resolving to destroy slavery. Dickson moved to improve hours and working conditions throughout United States Steel Corporation, and continued the quest throughout the steel industry for 30 years. Dickson would become a passionate labor reformer for the rest of his life and an admirer of H. J. Heinz. The survey touched another steel executive, Charles Schwab, who implemented reforms at Bethlehem Steel. Even the retired Andrew Carnegie was moved reading it and established a fund for workers' pensions and insurance for his old employees. The survey changed not only Pittsburgh, but also the nation." (183) (Skrabec, Jr., H. J. Heinz, pp. 182 and 183)
Case Study
ReplyDeleteJ. C. Penney founder James Cash Penney had the virtue of justice in relation to the community instilled into him by his father from a very young age, as David Kruger explains in J. C. Penney: The Man, the Store and American Agriculture. "Just as Penney's father taught him a great deal about farming, livestock, and even certain aspects of range conservation, he consistently incorporated applications of the Golden Rule into those lessons, even at the expense of Penney's agribusiness profits. When neighbors began to complain about the smell and sound of Penney's childhood hog operation, his father demanded an immediate liquidation out of respect for the neighbors' living environment. The morals to be learned in lessons like these were not always apparent to Penney in the short term, especially when the young boy had to suffer the sting of lost income in order to comply with his father's values. On one notable occasion, Penney's father even shut down a highly lucrative melon stand Penney had set up outside the entrance to the county fair, while publically castigating him in front of his customers for 'disgracing the Penneys' by bypassing concession fees and taking business away from fee-paying vendors who were operating inside the fairgrounds. 'Don't ever let me see a son of mine take advantage of others for his own benefit,' his father later admonished. 'Think about it, Jim.' As an adult, Penney admitted that while the epiphany of the melon stand lesson was not immediate, it eventually became a permanent and indelible part of his own way of life...'Once again, in his direct, unadorned way of doing things, my father had instilled in me a point of honor which, as time went on, revealed itself to me in the form of a foundation stone of human dealing in the business world. Money is important; but the practice of the golden rule in making money - as in every other aspect of human relations - is the most substantial asset of civilized man.'" (Kruger, J. C. Penney, p. 17)