Committing, quitting

I work at Word Bookstore, Word is a Christian bookstore chain who take advantage of the Christian consumer market and while purporting to sell 'resources' usually only advertise what sells rather than what is actually good. What does it mean to commit to your ethics? I believe that Word exploit the weaknesses within the church in order to make money. I vehemently disagree with this but should I quit on the basis of such a belief?

I had a conversation once with a friend who said that I was thinking too small if I didn't take a job based on ethical values. He said that it can be our duty to enter a workplace and reform it; to change it from the inside out. I would have preferred to extricate myself from the world and create my own bubble of community that lacks the reality of tragedy.

This begs the question, what is fundamentally wrong with Word? It surely is not the people I work with who are some of the most creative, loving and passionate people who I know. The conclusion I have rested with is the capitalist framework in which Word operates. The enemy of capitalism has always seemed to be communism, or some form of socialism. At the core of socialism is the other, whilst the core of capitalism is the self. Saying that, the answer is not workplace socialism; that is equally as wrong and would place a business outside the field of real competitiveness. The answer is dedication to the other, as opposed to the self.

Capitalism crumbles at humility and servanthood as it is built on a foundation of competition and comparison. The furthest we can move toward humility is embodied in the greatest victims of our western salvation, the homeless. If, as a functioning business, we were to support the most poor and destitute of our society how would that change a business? Obviously I am in no position to make executive decisions about who we support corporately; but I am endeavouring to influence a quiet revolution. In my few encounters with manifest brokenness (the homeless) I have come to terms with the lack of character inside myself. I believe Jesus called us unto people like this for our benefit and not theirs; I realise this now because I have nothing, beyond dollars (which are hollow to starving people), to give.

It is my goal to use the vehicle of industry and commerce as a ironic catalyst for social change; much in the vein of the Horse of Troy. Such a business I think would have to be retail in essential nature as this provides the greatest opportunity for human connection. If anyone reads this (which is unlikely) and feels gravitated toward something new and anti- anti then please either comment this or message me through myspace, the link is on your right.

My ideas are just ideas, but I hope to cultivate some commitment in myself.