Page 463 - Cultures and Organizations

428 IMPLICATIONS

predictable behavior. . . . Despite the frequent assertion that sentimentality
and the pursuit of economic interests don’t mix, economic systems are in
fact ethical systems. Whether by law and regulation or by custom, some
economic activities are sanctioned while others are not. And what is sanc-
tioned differs from culture to culture. 55

Both what is “rational” and what is “ethical” depend on cultural value posi-
tions. In politics, value positions are further confounded by perceived inter-
ests. There is a strong tendency in international politics to use different
ethical standards toward other countries versus one’s own.
A case study that should encourage modesty about ethics in politics
is the international drug trade. Western countries for decades have been
involved in a virtual war to prevent the importation of drugs. Not so long
ago, from 1839 to 1842, a Western country (Britain) fought an “Opium
War” with Imperial China. The Chinese emperor took the same position
that Western governments are taking now: trying to keep drugs out of his
country. The British, however, had strong economic interests in a Chinese
market for the opium they imported from India, and through an active sales
promotion they got large numbers of Chinese addicted. The British won the
war, and in the peace treaty they not only got the right to continue import-
ing opium but also acquired Hong Kong Island as a permanent foothold on
the Chinese coast. The returning of Hong Kong to China in 1997 in a way
was a belated victory for the Chinese in their war against drugs. 56
From a values point of view, it is difficult to defend the position that

the trade in arms is less unethical than the trade in drugs. One difference

is that in the drug traffic, the poor countries tend to be the sellers; in

the arms traffic, it’s the rich countries. The latter have made more money
on selling arms to third-world countries than they spent on development
assistance to these countries. Of course, in this case the buyers and the

sellers are both to blame, but the rich countries are in a better position to
break the vicious circle.
Reducing the trade in arms would reduce civil wars, terrorism, and
murder. It would improve the chances of respect for human rights in the
world: these arms are often used to crush human rights. While it is unreal-
istic to expect all countries of the world to become Western-style democra-
cies, a more feasible goal is to strive for more respect for human rights even
in autocratically led states.