Contemporary times speak of havoc and discontent, all on an unimaginable scale. The helms of power and politics are in the grips of serious corruption and misconduct, moral slackness, lack of integrity and much more routinely impact the trust and cordiality among the people and their providers. Mass layoffs, a very cold concern deftly outputting from the likes of Meta, the Big Tech, a callousness surrounding the issues of climate change and rising inequality have seen no equivalents in modern times. The rising entrepreneurs often too often feel the brunt of the old power and old money, huge monopolies on businesses, clearing competition out of their ways to weed out any challenges that they might feel, we have seen them all. In this blog we will tread on a way to know if there is a way to do business more responsibly, more for the benefit of people, the planet, the environment and if in clear and unequivocal terms can deduce meaningful ways of living via the acts of profiteering we do and employ.
Accountability of Big Business- In the wake of pervasive global problems such as Climate crisis, issues of surveillance, government crackdown on Democracy and many such socio-political issues, the acts of Big Tech and their involvement has to be keenly observed. Various questions have arisen on Meta and other tech firms for their role in US elections, in spreading fake news, hate messages, sexually explicit and violent behaviour and much more. In India their action involving their use in riots and attacking religious groups has been widely scrutinised.
Privacy concerns and fears of government surveillance are ever more present in the discordant digital environment and government interference in issues considering private citizens. Activists, NGOs, members of the Opposition are constantly being watched over by government agencies. Ethics must feature prominently in these sorts of discussions by the Tech firms. The talks surrounding them are very hazy and for the moment there does not seem to be a code of ethics surrounding digital law and the Big Tech.
Exploitative practices- This particular issue goes almost untreated in every generation that it arises in. Over the years the exploitative tendencies have not weakened in fact they have strengthened and have grown more subtle. Luring the employees with future benefits in gifts and bonuses for longer hours and other very nuanced forms of oppression are on the rise. Irregularities in payment of salaries amidst the Corona Pandemic for instance or other employees seem to have taken a dire blow. Back breaking hours with no holidays or fewer ones are a norm in the corporate world of today. Then the interaction of the upper echelons of employees with that of the lower is also in a state of mess. Their problems are not heard in the closest of ways, regularly their own growth and personal ambitions are sidelined which in a way stymies the morale of the people working in those spaces. The exploitation on the consumer side is much more and pernicious too. Misleading adverts, licentious and explicit themes are regularly employed in luring consumers towards unnecessary products. Ethical concerns regarding the environment, the welfare of people must be taken into account when businesses are taken up by entrepreneurs. The rights of consumers, full knowledge of the products along with the viability of the products in the lives of people must be paid attention to and only that. The next thing essential here is to maybe find a way to make people aware of the environmental cost of the product that is being sold. This element must gain precedence above anything else in the corporate world of today because of the global implications the desired product might have.
Issues concerning Transparency of the Big Business- The lack of any sort of knowledge about the Big Business and their networks thereof is a major concern in the minds of people. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that many companies pool their profits or black money into the tax havens or some offshore locations in order to safeguard them from the national tax agencies. In fact the banks of Switzerland, England, Cyprus, Bahamas, and Antigua profit heavily from these facts alone. How can all this be ethical? Numerous corruption allegations and international scandals repeatedly stem out from these very high profile banks or syndicates if we might call them as such. Business associations often collude with the legal entities of their countries and launder billions of dollars in and outside of banks. Even their structures are highly opaque. The big investment banks routinely hide the names of their clients from public view and often are a major stakeholder in the process of money transfer or basic service. Can there be laws and statutes that deal specifically with these very sorts of businesses, that have an overbearing on these high transfers and covert machinations that these establishments employ? There must arise such demands from the public for such sorts of laws and also from the entrepreneurs category believing fairly well that it is not going to hamper any sorts of business instead the lost trust could be gained. This could pave the way for a much better, publicly trusted form of businesses that in fact do not indulge in any malicious and covert capitalism.
Importance of the Right Philosophy in these places- It is indeed a complaint long lasting that the environment that has developed in the corporate sector is highly toxic because at the core they have the wrong philosophy of life or a mutation there maybe for the simple reason that any sort of thinking about life and action isn’t simply there. Moral principles are not embedded enough in the minds of entrepreneurs, though business should infact primarily concern this very fact, why do we do what we do? Every one simply glosses over the fact and those ultra high motivational speakers just make it about the josh, and inspiration and all such stuff. I am not saying those things aren’t important but the priority should in fact be moral living then the output the right kind of it would inevitably flow from that. How many people know that the world’s most famous economist, often called the father of modern capitalism, also published a book entitled, “The theory of Moral Sentiments”, that too before the publication of his magnum opus ‘The Wealth of Nations’. He clearly believed morality came first and then the process of business. Capitalism is not bad but the lack of morality and principles certainly is. Modern public discourse or even the study programs do not incorporate any sort of philosophy in their courses even when they do exist they are superficial and do not have any proper grounding in the reality that surrounds them.
Conclusion- The passageway to a clear and concise definition for right living is a very tough task but it is a necessity. The morality that stems out from that very inquiry of depth could in fact be called right and maybe ‘whole’. It doesn’t leave out anything. The various facets must be tested out both materially and spiritually only then be employed. Well but the thing is only when we actually ourselves make the journey and in fact desire it can this journey come to its fruition.