Question

In 500 words apply this story in your day to day life.

A milkman became very wealthy through dishonest means. He had to cross a river daily to reach the city where his customers lived. He mixed the water of the river generously with the milk that he sold for a good profit. One day he went around collecting the dues in order to celebrate the wedding of his son. With the large amount thus collected he purchased plenty of rich clothes and glittering gold ornaments. But while crossing the river the boat capsized and the river swallowed all his costly purchases. The milk vendor was speechless with grief. At that time he heard a voice that came from the river, “Do not weep. What you have lost is only the illicit gains you earned through cheating your customers.

Answer 1

The story that has been mentioned in the question provides us with a very important moral lesson in the field of finance, commerce and accounting. The moral lesson is that an individual or a business entity should always focus on earning money in a manner that is honest and based on principles of integrity, being scrupulous, honesty and truthfulness. No person or no business should try and earn profits and make money by making use of unethical business and commerce practices.

For any individual or for any business it is important to earn money. However what is more important is the way that money is earned. Individuals pursue professional occupations and careers in order to earn monetary income or revenue. The money that is being earned should be earned in a manner that is both ethical as well as legal. Otherwise, sooner or later, the individual or the business, will find themselves in trouble.

History has showed us time and again that trying to earn money by cheating others and by making use of dishonest means will eventually lead to trouble. It may lead to enormous financial gains in the short term but in the long term all these financial gains will be wiped out. Besides the long term financial loss it will also soil the reputation of that person and if that person has done something illegally then law will catch up and appropriate legal punishment will be given to that person.

For examples people who started Ponzi schemes were able to make large amounts of money in the short term, but in the long run their schemes, which were based on deceit, were exposed, and all their earnings and large amounts of money that they had accumulated and amassed just evaporated in a matter of a day. There are corporate examples here as well. Company like Enron fudged its accounting figures to hide its deteriorating financial position just to ensure that the share prices of the company keeps on increasing and that the management of the company keeps on earning handsome bonuses. The fudging of accounting numbers of Enron was eventually exposed and all involved managers of the company and the accounting firm that had audited the company were given legal punishments. The company went burst after the wrongdoings were exposed.

We can conclude by saying that individuals and business entities should always focus on earning money and doing commerce through means that are legal and ethical, both at the same time. When individuals focus on earning money through illicit means then they are merely giving fuel to their greed. Once the feeling of greed starts occurring in a person or a business then it will completely encompass that person or business and that person or business will lose all sense of right and wrong. Ideally one should focus on amassing wealth through means that are legitimate and ethical and if one focuses on earning in this manner then there is no risk of losing wealth in future at all.

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