SPEAKING OF FAITH: The Gods of Business
from a speech Guptara delivered in London and published under the title Ethics Across Cultures: "I have no issue with people earning lots of money. I do have a problem when, for example, in the richest country in the world, the U.S.A., we have a population in which 70 percent has no net wealth. Over the past 20 years, real wages have declined for 80 percent of the population. And this is not an issue only in the U.S.A., it is a worldwide trend today. I think most of us have no problem with a system which allows reasonable accumulation of wealth gained in return for the exertion of intelligence, industry, risk-taking and sheer effort. But I think most people in the world do have a problem with a system which allows unlimited accumulation of wealth at the same time as allowing millions of people to have nothing when they are exerting as much energy and intelligence as other people. Three thousand five hundred children died today because they had no food or water. Three thousand five hundred will die tomorrow for the same reasons, and the day after and every day — until you and I decide to do something about it. What was merely a tragedy yesterday is today a tragedy as well as an obscenity, for we live in a time of oversupply of all basic goods for the first time in history, which makes it entirely unnecessary for anyone to starve or have no clothes or to have no roof of some basic sort over their heads."from this week's interview: I think of this dear lady, whom I've never met, whom I don't know, who exposed the whole of the Enron scandal. It was one woman. So individuals have enormous power. And we are fed consistently, somehow, by our culture the devil's lie that we have no power and it's only poor old me. Yes, it is only poor old me. But poor old me, poor old [--] I have enormous power if I'm willing to keep my eyes open and keep my ears open and act at the right time when it's necessary to act to clean things up or to improve things. Things may be perfectly clean, but they could be improved a bit. So individuals with vision, that's what we lack.
from an address at a 2002 business seminar in Cambridge, England: Positive steps can be taken to ensure a good future for us all. It seems to me clear that the following steps would give us some sort of minimum agenda for creating a better sort of globalization:
1. inculcate a culture in which there is a high place for the idea of enough
2. self-restrain or penalize demands for higher wages and profits
3. move away from a fascination with economic expansion for its own sake
4. replace the notion of private limited companies with publicly authorized companies, which take seriously the environment, labor, consumers and civil society.
We need a new generation of people willing to be transformed as individuals, willing to create a new sense of community, ready to pay the cost of working for the continued transformation of our global society, and of transforming our companies from engines to make even richer those who are already rich to engines that work to produce wealth for the globe.
Check out the program at the following address:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/godsofbusiness/index.shtml
244
posted by mac | 4:09 AM
6 Comments:
Prabhu Guptara sounds like an intelligent man...But instead of getting to the root of the problem, he seems to want to create another solution by penalizing businesses (which actually create jobs for those 70% he talks about) so that the world (or just a chosen few)can dictate their version of what's enough. I assume that since he was asked on this program he has some type of faith or in some religion. Blaming others and dictating or demanding laws won't ever fix the problem. The heart has to be changed...and there's only one way that will happen.
Ah, you misread, my friend. Or maybe the crux of his thinking doesn't show up in the quotes I chose (their being out of context and all). The change of heart, from the individual upward, is exactly what he's talking about.
And, be honest, most of the businesses that have an effect on the USA or world economy don't give a crap about their workers or the environment or even the economy if the conscientious management of these interferes with their bottom line. Small businesses are different, to some degree, but if anybody really cared about them, Wal-Mart would be limited in the number of stores it could open in a market. We've had two open up here in the last year, and a third one is near completion.
Yo..I don't think I misread. I actually went to all the links and read enough stuff to know that as usual, most try to fix things by bringing down those who have succeeded in life, usually do to their own inadequacies, jealousy,pride, etc.
But...the difference between Guptara and me, is that I actually believe that I have no business telling business what to do. That's what has been great about this "republic" which if we leave it to the "Guptara's" of the world...we would become a socialist/communist nation. And that I'm sure most wise men of his caliber would treasure....yet they forget their history. It doesn't work.
As much as I hate what Wal-Mart has done...look at the other side of great businesses such as Costco that actually does what he is suggesting. But Costco could never do what they do...if their hands were tied by the police of wordly wisdom that a Guptara would choose to dictate.
I still believe you have to change the heart which in turn would change the tide of this wacked world...and God can do that, not new laws...and demanding to bring down the wealthy businesses and business men...which this would pretty much do...will never fix the problems that he thinks need fixing.
If the heart is changed by God...man will do the right things. Well..at least try to do them!
Man, that's so weird. I didn't get any of that kind of stuff out of what he said. I read this--"But find something that you are passionate about which is going to make a difference in the world and put your shoulder behind it, because there're so many issues that one can put one's shoulder behind, whether it's conservation-related issues to look after the environment, whether it's poverty in our own communities"--and don't see how this couldn't be a good thing.
This is the problem with man...we read what we want to read, judge the whole man from a few thoughts that you choose to lock on to, and ignore the rest! I'm sure this is why I didn't do well in school. As I re-read what you gave from his speech in 2002 from Cambridge, England...it still reads to me that it is part of the overall desire of many to keep the wealthy/successful in check...and tie their hands by demanding they be more globalized in their work...instead of enocuraging them to look to the ONE than can change them. Anyway...I guess if this was a test you had given and I was a student...sounds like I wouldn't have passed!
'Tis amazing that we can read so differently, but I guess that's the stuff of life. And it's the stuff of friendship that we can disagree and still sing songs together and sit talking at Starbucks for hours!
Post a Comment
<< Home