Wanted: More Angels

Thee are lots of topics people debate or argue over. Some are fun. Others are more serious. Yet they all seem to generate passion. If one, for example, believes the 1927 Yankees was the best team of all-time, then heaven help any one who disagrees. Or who is the best James Bond: Sean Connery? Daniel Craig? Roget Moore? And so it goes. One particular topic of debate was triggered 230 years ago by one of our Founding Fathers: James Madison. In Federalist Paper No. 51, Madison talked about the necessity of government. "If men were angels," he famously wrote, "no government would be necessary." Of course, men (and women) are not angels. Consequently, some sort of oversight entity is required to prevent folks from behaving badly with few if any consequences.  

It is this point by Madison that represents the crux of the difference between America's republican and democratic parties. While both agree some form of government is necessary, where they disagree is over the question of how much. How much government do citizens need in their lives, dictating what they can or cannot do? To cite one example, should small business owners be free to accommodate whoever they choose or must they be available to any one? Depending upon one's perspective, the answer to this question speaks to the issue of whether people can discriminate against others if they so choose.

In the world of professional communication, it is quite clear that there are many practitioners who are not angels. Such folks lie, mislead, insult and censor. They represent the worst of the broad "club" of those who communicate for a living. Presently, there is little that exists that prevents them from carrying on in such a manner. Yes, the Public Relation of Society has its Code of Ethics, but the reality is that document has few teeth. It is my observation that the field of public relations is becoming more and more like the old Wild West where anything goes. It is time for leaders in this profession to begin taking steps to make it more difficult for non-angels to do what they do. The credibility of the profession and those who practice it is at-risk.