In those moments we know the difference between being human and being inhuman. The moral values which religion generated and embodied for centuries can help in the work of renewal in our country. Such utilitarian, crowd control arguments for faith and morality have emanated from pragmatic heads of state from time immemorial. Yet even if politicos employ religion and morality for their own self-serving ends, the predictable results of a better ordered and more humane society still accrue to the benefit of many. But an enormous economic advantage follows as well.
Most economists understand the monetary value of investing in a good reputation.
No one questions the enormity of the country's present, crime-infested time of troubles. The debate, rather, centers on whether or not the situation is hopeless. The likelihood of Russia's escape from the Mafia's stranglehold and endemic bureaucratic corruption appears slim on paper. Great works of Russian literature penned by Gogol, Dostoevsky, Leskov, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Pasternak, and Solzhenitsyn are replete with deep and profound moral reflection. Berkeley's Gregory Grossman and Duke's Vladimir Treml both cited the family circle as a remaining harbor of civility and good intentions.