As a human development principle, fair development should be applied in all fields of human society. The application of fair development to the business field leads to the concept and principle of fair wealth.
Fair wealth is defined as wealth created by commercial activities that are perceived to be fair to all entities: humans, animals and the environment in general.
When applying fair development to the commercial field, “fairness” in the definition of fair wealth inherits the diversity of the objects, types and forms of fairness in the fairness development. Therefore, the principle of fair choice is also applicable in the concept of fair wealth. This means that the specific evaluation criteria for enterprises to obtain fair wealth must match the social environment where they are as well as their degree of development, and thus the criteria are jointly determined by the whole society involved in the operation of the enterprises.
The concept of fair wealth can be summarized as: a man attains his monetary aspirations through honorable means, uses it with virtue, and then pass it on with sincerity.
The concept above contains three layers of meaning. First, this concept reflects the attitude of fair wealth theory towards wealth. There is nothing wrong for humans to “attain their monetary aspirations”, and fair wealth encourages and affirms the pursuit of wealth. The pursuit of wealth is the core mission of any enterprise, which is not only responsible to investors, but also the main way for enterprises to realize their own value. Commercial society is composed of enterprises, and the wealth of enterprises is also the wealth of society. Second, the human’s pursuit of wealth should not be wanton or blind, but should meet the two requirements of (obtaining wealth) “through honorable means, then using it with virtue”. How to obtain and use wealth is the core of measuring the fair wealth of enterprises. The common bottom line of these two aspects is compliance with the laws and regulations. Legality is the basic requirement of “means” and “virtue”, and is a necessary condition for enterprises to obtain fair wealth. On this basis, obtaining wealth “through honorable means” encourages enterprises to follow the right path and be responsible to others, society and the environment, rather than being just concerned about the private gains and losses. “Using it with virtue” requires enterprises to take into account the social morality and responsibility when using wealth. Finally, “pass(ing) it with sincerity” embodies the realm of “doing whatever you want without breaking the rules”. On one hand, it advocates what can be achieved by fair wealth owners in the distribution and inheritance of wealth; on the other hand, it emphasizes that society should respect fair wealth and its owners. This emphasizes that they hold inviolable rights in wealth inheritance and accumulation.