In Systems of Survival, Jane Jacobs argues that there are two different, equally valid/successful systems (or rather 'syndromes') of ethics: the Guardian Syndrome which is concerned with taking and/or protecting limited resources and the Commercial Syndrome, which is concerned with creating and trading produced (and thus non-limited) goods. Military, police, civil servants and environmentalists are Guardians, while merchants, workers, etc. are Traders (Commercial Syndrome followers)

These ethical systems share a number of virtues, including: cooperation, courage, moderation, mercy, etc.. However, what makes them distinct are the virtues that they don't share.

Commercial Moral Syndrome

• Shun force

• Come to voluntary agreements

• Be honest

• Collaborate easily with strangers and aliens

• Compete

• Respect contracts

• Use initiative and enterprise

• Be open to inventiveness and novelty

• Be efficient

• Promote comfort and convenience

• Dissent for the sake of the task

• Invest for productive purposes

• Be industrious

• Be thrifty

• Be optimistic

Guardian Moral Syndrome

• Shun Trading

• Exert Prowess

• Be obedient and disciplined

• Adhere to tradition

• Respect hierarchy

• Be loyal

• Take vengeance

• Deceive for the sake of the task

• Make rich use of leisure

• Be ostentatious

• Dispense largesse

• Be exclusive

• Show fortitude

• Be fatalistic

• Treasure honor

Jacobs argues that the virtues of each system are correlated in such a way that violation of one of the virtues tends to lead to violation of the other virtues in that system. She further argues that much of the ethical corruption that we witness is due to mixing of these syndromes. For example, introducing commercially inspired productivity metrics into a Guardian institution like a police force can lead to the corruption of making false arrests in order to reach the mandated quota. Similarly, demanding loyalty (a Guardian ethic) in commercial institutions can lead to systemic corruption, as when Lockheed employees unanimously supported their company after it was found to be engaged in systematic corruption of bureaucrats in a foreign country.