Revaluing
In the private sector, for-profit businesses do what they do so they can make money! The object is to create profits for the principals – the owners and shareholders. This may be an oversimplification, but I think it’s a fair generalization. If it weren’t about profits, we’d call these businesses something else.
I get it. And, I’m all for it. But, I worry that businesses (i.e., the owners, shareholders, and managers) become so focused on the bottom line, that they become self-serving. Their purpose is to continually increase profits, salaries and bonuses. Their vision is to beat not only their competition, but also their own records so they can reap still higher benefits – even to outperform their peers within the organization.
In a recent article in The Nation, historian Tony Judt was quoted, when “asking ourselves whether we support a proposal or initiative, we have not asked, is it good or bad? Instead we inquire: Is it efficient? Is it productive?” He explained, this perspective is spawned from the “propensity to avoid moral considerations, to restrict ourselves to issues of profit and loss – economic questions in the narrowest sense.”
The author suggested that this prejudice is a relatively recent phenomenon, “haunting the United States and parts of Europe” for the past thirty years. Certainly, the deregulation of certain industries may have exacerbated the situation – as we’ve seen with the banking sector, but I’m afraid this compulsion to maximize private revenues over managing social risk or addressing a “greater good” isn’t so new. Until recent years, we’ve tolerated or turned a blind eye to “sweat shops,” pollution, and pernicious business practices – that allowed moguls to develop their dynasties, their private fiefdoms at the expense of others.
Maybe, in the aftermath of our economic collapse and our collective bankruptcy, we will say “Enough, already!” Maybe, as we rebuild our lives, we will restore some measure of social conscience in our business practices. Maybe, we will take this opportunity to revalue our motives, as they are the basis for our decisions. Maybe, we will be able to envision a more balanced, sustainable "marketplace." Maybe, we will be connected by a collective vision, and recognize the awesome power that comes from our hearts. Maybe, what “we” do will make a difference in what “they” do.
So let us then try to climb the mountain, not by stepping on what is below us, but to pull us up at what is above us, for my part at the stars; amen.
I get it. And, I’m all for it. But, I worry that businesses (i.e., the owners, shareholders, and managers) become so focused on the bottom line, that they become self-serving. Their purpose is to continually increase profits, salaries and bonuses. Their vision is to beat not only their competition, but also their own records so they can reap still higher benefits – even to outperform their peers within the organization.
In a recent article in The Nation, historian Tony Judt was quoted, when “asking ourselves whether we support a proposal or initiative, we have not asked, is it good or bad? Instead we inquire: Is it efficient? Is it productive?” He explained, this perspective is spawned from the “propensity to avoid moral considerations, to restrict ourselves to issues of profit and loss – economic questions in the narrowest sense.”
The author suggested that this prejudice is a relatively recent phenomenon, “haunting the United States and parts of Europe” for the past thirty years. Certainly, the deregulation of certain industries may have exacerbated the situation – as we’ve seen with the banking sector, but I’m afraid this compulsion to maximize private revenues over managing social risk or addressing a “greater good” isn’t so new. Until recent years, we’ve tolerated or turned a blind eye to “sweat shops,” pollution, and pernicious business practices – that allowed moguls to develop their dynasties, their private fiefdoms at the expense of others.
Maybe, in the aftermath of our economic collapse and our collective bankruptcy, we will say “Enough, already!” Maybe, as we rebuild our lives, we will restore some measure of social conscience in our business practices. Maybe, we will take this opportunity to revalue our motives, as they are the basis for our decisions. Maybe, we will be able to envision a more balanced, sustainable "marketplace." Maybe, we will be connected by a collective vision, and recognize the awesome power that comes from our hearts. Maybe, what “we” do will make a difference in what “they” do.
So let us then try to climb the mountain, not by stepping on what is below us, but to pull us up at what is above us, for my part at the stars; amen.
- M.C. Escher
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