The business world has become cutthroat, corrupt, and unethical. The globalized market is now over flooded with products and companies. Companies compete daily for customers all over the world. The CEOs of major corporations try to get every dollar they can get their hands on. They buy out smaller companies or put them out of business to take their share an their customers. They already own too much but they want more and more. The people do not care what they have to do. Corporate corruption gives the once positive human desires for wealth, ambition, and power a detrimental and negative connotation. Today's business world has become Faustian. All of the corporate scandals invoke public distrust in people. America is headed for doom if corruption is not ended.
In 1604, Christopher Marlowe wrote The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. Faustus had everything a successful man could want, but he strived for more any way he could. He made a pact with the Devil. He sold his soul and in return, the devil Mephastophlis, would be his servant for twenty-four years. So, for those twenty-four years, Faustus traveled the world gaining much knowledge and great power. When his time was up, Lucifer took Faustus to hell for an eternity of damnation. He sold his soul to get what he wanted and in the end he paid for it. Corporations are now Faustian, they resemble Faustus and that means they sacrifice ethics and values for material gain. They make deals off the record so they can maximize their profits. There are checks and balances in place that are supposed to stop corporate wrongdoing. An entire industry of accounting firms review financial numbers, audit corporate books and certify the validity of financial statements (Mokhiber and Weissman 2002). There are also the Wall Street investment firms who scrutinize corporate reports, executives, market performance, and provide investors with independent evaluations of the company (Mokhiber and Weissman 2002).
