Tuesday 26 November 2013

Greed is a sin but profit making is to be valued! huh

I guess I am happy to say that I am not alone in thinking that the price paid to farmers this year by Fonterra cannot keep rising.
Just like Corporate Executives, cannot keep demanding higher and higher salaries.

Hard to say I am a fan, of former French President Nicholas Sarkozy, but he also states that GDP (gross domestic product) is not an accurate measure of economic success. He commissioned a report and found that other principles should be factored in when measuring economic success such as sustainability and the environment. He is correct. What is the value of great material wealth but no air or water quality?
 Buying and spending are not everyone's idea of achievement. The latest round of asset sales is like a very exclusive game. Commoners like me simply don't play.

But I am in business and I do want to make a profit. However perhaps where I may differ is I want my business to be sustainable, I don't want to have a negative impact on the environment nor do I want to sell a product i don't believe in. I only want to be responsible for creating good will. I want my business to last for generations. I want to learn a lesson from Asia and build a business that last for generations and provides for my family. A lofty goal but not if careful lessons are followed.

What really annoys me the most is that there seems to be a culture of greed as an acceptable norm. I am far from religious but I was told greed is one of the seven deadly sins. I would go further than calling it just greed. The horrible sense of entitlement some business or corporate people display shows clearly how weak they are in real values. Wealth or money doesn't make you a bad person and I like luxury good as much as the next person. Where I may differ is when I do buy a luxury good or anything I try to look after it. I guess when I buy something I create antiques cos I keep my stuff a long long time.

Endless acquisition is dull. Having money and buying stuff is boring. If you like watching the Kardashians and think that that is a worthy lifestyle to aspire to I say good on you . I also say, so far they experience equal heartbreak, drug addiction, marriage break up and divorces if not more and their children cry and poop just like ours.

Money is, as the BNZ advertisement says, neither good nor bad. Lacking a moral compass in business may mean you do get very rich. But the legacy you leave behind should not be at the expense of underpaid or even ill or injured staff. The result should not be a damaged environment that you are responsible for but not held accountable.

I feel we have had one too many Cave Creek incidents and Pike River  should NOT have happened. The buck stops here and being responsible is one of the first challenges society needs to demand and I think this current Government needs to address.

In the meantime ... lets just get organised for next election and vote this morally bankrupt lot out.