Obstructing Social Responsibilty

"Social responsibility is exercised when individuals express their own values in their own acts, acting separately or in concert; it is not exercised when they force their views on others. A socially responsible individual objects to low wages by refusing to work for them. If he feels strongly about the evils of low wages, he can attempt to dissuade other workers from accepting them, and he can boycott products and producers who benefit from them. He can even try to persuade the owners of businesses to transform their firms into social welfare organisations. But if he acts to prevent other workers from accepting, or businesses from offering, wage levels that are acceptable to them both, he is obstructing social responsibility, not exercising it. Individuals have no more right to force other adults to adopt their moral priorities than they have to dictate their religious beliefs."

Elaine Sternberg, Just Business: Business Ethics in Action