Systems of Survival

February 1, 1993
Written in the form of a Platonic dialogue between a Manhattan publisher and his party guests, Jacobs's often confusing inquiry posits that two contradictory ethical systems underpin the realms of work and politics. The ``commercial syndrome,'' prevalent in business, trade and science, fosters honesty and cooperation, encouraging people to be industrious and thrifty and to invest for productive purposes. The ``guardian syndrome,'' which holds sway over armies, police, government bureaucracies and commercial monopolies, instills obedience, respect for hierarchy, loyalty and fatalism. When either moral syndrome embraces functions inappropriate to it, contends Jacobs ( The Economy of Cities ), corruption ensues. She uses this simplistic schema to shed light on corporate merger manias, Pentagon waste, organized crime (a ``monstrous hybrid of the two systems'') and Sweden's welfare state. Urging a ``guardian-commercial symbiosis'' to combat force, fraud and greed, Jacobs cites pollution-cutting technologies and democratic access to business credit as provocative examples.