Remember ethics?
You don’t need much of a memory to recall that as the credit crunch unfolded there was a great deal of debate about business ethics. Specifically about the teaching of ethics in business schools, where so many of the con artists who almost crashed the world economy and made off with millions while poor tax payers had to bail their companies out, learned their craft.
Now we have President Trump pressurising companies to pay him millions in “libel payments” in a country where the libel laws are so weak he could not possibly have won. They pay because they fear he will use his immense power to block their deals and cost them even more. We have law firms (made up of people who are supposed to respect the law and the constitution, and not just make money) on their knees begging for government work.
Companies are lining up to be seen investing in Trump family businesses, in crypto currencies and anything else which will make billions for the President. Companies suffering because of tariffs keep their heads down and think about what is happening to Elon Musk.
I look forward to next year’s MBA syllabuses at all the top business schools. Can we expect more courses on avoiding bribery and corruption, standing up for the rule of law, or even possibly retaining some self respect?
But perhaps more worrying than even the speed and ease with which these business titans kowtowed is the fact that now ever politician in the world knows they are there for the taking. Soft, weak, pathetic and hypocritical, a push over and a gold mine.
Well done guys, you have sold your birthright for a mess of potage and you were happy to do so, just so long as this year’s profits weren’t hurt.
From Jonty Bloom Media Ltd
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
There have probably always been two ethical systems, one based on power and profit and the other on the soul.
In the power and profit scheme, "strength" means a willingness to sacrifice principle and be able to deal with its "emotional" consequences. Being diverted by moral scruples is a sign of weakness. Morality is for slaves.
In the religious scheme, ethics is about overcoming ego, going out from the narrowness of the focus on "I am" such that consciousness encompasses all of experience.
Both of these schemes tend to get what they set out to achieve. Power and wealth but a rotten soul versus the ability to get by okay but with a full appreciation of life.