Bill Ewing is a capitalist who gave up on the corporate world a long time ago.

As executive director of the nonprofit Maryland Food Bank, Ewing knows that money is a beautiful thing - especially if you're trying to feed 45,000 poor people a month.

"Our board is not paid, but they are people who work every bit as hard as board members who get $25,000 or $50,000 a year," said Ewing, who figures he's too old, at 59, to be surprised by the business scandals flooding the news. Unbridled pursuit of the dollar has spurred an erosion of ethics, a retreat from responsibility, the former banker said.

"I read somewhere that Enron lost $90 billion for its investors," he said. "We just spent the last two months fussing and moaning about the food budget. If we had $90 billion, we could end hunger in this country. ... It's like something that happens in a whole different universe."