When companies forsake their broadly defined social responsibilities or use spin to construct a deliberately overinflated image of their corporate citizenship, the end result is a private sector and a civil society out of balance.

Too prevalent today are heavily promoted, self-generated snippets designed to show how businesses are meeting their obligations to society. Paid advertisements that wave banners about how companies address global warming, curb health-care costs, or improve public education often are smoke screens to hide a troubling trend: the significant falloff in corporate charitable contributions.

Read more on corporate irresponsibility here.