Efficiency

Lots going on here, and in my mind, which I am never able to shut off, but my thoughts are not quite organized and I am not at this point comfortable with sharing them. So, I will write a bit about something we discussed in class the other night. We talked about the canonical view of business. What the canonical view of business says(at least according to my textbook) is that the aim of society is towards efficiency and that each person looks out mainly for himself only. My problem with efficiency (and no one in my class seemed to share this concern) is that when you aim for the most gain while putting in the least effort, you lose so much in the way of personal growth and beauty. If you aim only for efficiency, then who cares about art, or aesthetic pleasures, or meaningfulness? I think the quality of an efficient life leaves a ton to be desired. Even in business, I think there is room for considerations off of the efficient path. But the business majors in my class were adamant - business is about making money, social responsibility is just a consequence and a hindrance that Americans must work around. The discussion depressed me a bit, my professor said he gets depressed hearing people talk like that, but then he looks around and sees that people don't necessarily act like that, and it gives him hope. I guess I hope that actions speak louder than words, and certainly louder than the canonical view of business. I hope everyone has a wonderful Shabbos.