The 21^st Century Magazine,
at South Florida's www.miami-dade-online.com.

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The truth is coming, the truth is coming! It will stay until it's been beaten senseless, kicked severely and spat upon. But it's still coming, count on it. Also, you might be interested to know that ethics will be attempting a comeback. Ethics! Can you believe that?

They're traveling together again liked they used to do. Truth and ethics forever, but this millennium will keep them from being the rule. They're both ready to accept being the exception to the rule now. In other words, they've settled. So don't let it scare you if you someone at the office suddenly acts like they have ethics, it will pass. I know I'm not wrong about this, they are coming but they won't stay long. I'm glad I had this chance to warn you before you ran into an unexpected blind siding. That could be embarrassing if you're not ready for it.

Now here's what I want you do: If someone at work straightens up and exclaims, "That wouldn't be right, it's not ethical!" shoot right back with "Thank God you said that, I feel the same way. You don't know how relieved I am to hear you say that!" A finger spread hand over your heart when delivering the line is optional, a sound move, but you be the judge of the need for it. Just keep it ready.

Be prepared to use what I've just told you, it's important. This quick, natural sounding response will pull you out of a questionable situation smoothly, and into the brief ethical experiment that will only last until the real chips are slammed down again. After that you can relax, the great experiment in ethics, at least in your workplace, will be over. After this brief period has been excused, it will go down in business history as the "Great Ethics Scare." Next time the same person says anything like that to you, break into laughter immediately and they will too. Trust me, it will soon be clear sailing again.

So much for the workplace. The political scene is going well, no need for any warnings there. To carry on a serious conversation using the words politics, truth and ethics in the same dialog, now qualifies you as one stupid son of a bitch. The other person in the discussion would be your enabler; you seldom have the opportunity to become that fundamentally brainless without such friends. Didn't your mother ever tell you not to hang around with that kind? She must have, but you weren't listening!

Watch out now, after the election they'll be arriving for a brief visit everywhere. Truth and ethics, riding together again. Watch the two of them step out of the Honda in Ralph Nader suits, polite, warm and serious. They will be dealt with in a respectful way by the heads of Industry and business. You can be sure of that. They might even have some impact (If I know them), but impact alone still fades away. There are only two of them and they can't make it everywhere, which means they won't visit long. So relax, rest easy new profiteers of the millennium. If this was not an election year, thus a period of false effort, we'd have no respect left for our ethical history at all.

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