CAPITALISM'S ACHILLES HEEL Dirty Money and How to

cipline that is available to analysis and decision making. The poor clearly
deserve to have every economic consideration that makes them poor on
the Bank’s agenda.
JUSTICE FIRST
Spreading Prosperity 361
Capitalism is in lock step with utilitarianism, the third part of the continuum
threatening to the system. Part III concluded with a request for reflection
on this linkage and practical ideas on recasting capitalism’s
philosophical underpinnings. The fact is, the traditional foundations
of capitalism are being shaken, but the capitalists themselves have not
noticed.
An enormous separation has arisen between existing policy and new
philosophy, between what is being practiced and what is being taught. The
past third of a century has been the most active period in history pursuing
ideas of justice, both within western countries and concerning their relations
with poorer countries. Very little of this has seeped into boardrooms and
CEO offices or has affected the way businesspeople rationalize their mandate.
The intellectual ferment taking place outside capitalism needs to be appreciated,
and then what this new thinking means for capitalism can be
addressed.
The pivotal point in twentieth-century philosophical revitalization was
the 1971 publication of A Theory of Justice by John Rawls. With a compelling
argument, he challenged utilitarianism’s 175-year reign and opened
up political and moral philosophy to fresh examination.
Rawls was born in 1921 in Baltimore, Maryland, to a well-to-do family.
The second among five brothers, two siblings died of infections
caught from him, which contributed to his lifelong stutter. After graduating
from Princeton University in 1943, he served in the U.S. Army for
two years and was active in campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines.
Returning to Princeton, he earned a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1950,
much influenced by the ethical content in the writings of Henry Sidgwick
(Chapter 10). Following stints at Princeton, Oxford, Cornell, and M.I.T.,
he was appointed professor of philosophy at Harvard in 1962, where he
remained for the rest of his life, mentoring students with inspiration and
courtliness.