We must put human beings at the center of the economy, and we need much more courage, because we do not have time to wait a century for these ideas to be accepted.
In recent years we have been witnessing a continuous growth of “impact reports” by many companies and entities financial. Without a doubt this should be a reason for joy, since it can be an indicator that, finally, we are awakening to the need for a change cultural in the way of doing business, and that we have realized that the human being and the Earth cannot be separated from the purely economic. In some, it could also just be an image wash.
Many years ago, some universities and business schools began to talk, timidly and theoretically, about triple balance. Besides of balance economiccompanies should be required to submit a balance social and other environmental. But the reality is that a law never emerged that required it, they simply talked about it and it seemed to make sense.
Today, after more than two decades of talking about this need, the social and environmental situation in many countries is alarming. And that can only be due to one explanation: deep down, the first objective for most companies continues to be maximization of the benefits, and rapid growth. And this is linked to a question that might seem philosophical, but it is not: it is a vital question. In my seminars and workshops for entrepreneurs, I sometimes ask them questions to meditate and work on, which usually surprise them because they are not common in the business world. One of them is: What is the meaning of your life? What do you want to do with your life in the time you have been given?
The lack of real answers to these questions causes an inner void in human beings, which they then try to fill in many ways, but which are really only escapes from reality. Growing, maximizing profits or earning a lot of money, compulsive consumption, immersion in a world of images… Therefore, today we need to rethink a new economic model based on the human being, and at the service of the human being. Understanding economic activity as something that will allow us to comfortably cover everyone’s needs, and then dedicate ourselves to cultivating a fully human life. The Greeks called free time skoléfrom where school emerged, the place where we learn to seek the truth, in order to be free.
Goodness, or responsibility, should not have to arise from a binding law, but from an individual awakening of conscience. The great Austrian thinker Rudolf Steiner called it ethical individualism. Being free is not ethical because a law obliges him, but because he discovers what is good, what is right, and for the love of that idea he then acts. That’s the real thing freedom.
That is why I declare myself in favor of a free market, but also free of fears, ambitions, lies and selfishness. And I speak of all this in a context of International Tradebecause the example of the new ethical entrepreneurs, who consider that money is not more important than people or the planet, this example of courage has multiplier effects. When looking for suppliers, you no longer only have to take into account the price, but also the true value behind it. Many times, behind a cheap price there is a hidden price that someone will pay, unintentionally, for us. And if we do not realize that all of humanity and the Earth constitute a single organism, that what happens to one will end up affecting everyone else, if we continue turning our backs on this reality, we will have more and more problems. What we don’t do today for love, we will end up paying with pain.
More and more consumers follow these criteria when purchasing, and we must make an effort to spread that awareness in the market. Ethics must be quoted above prices, and for businessmen who courageously bet on this new model today, the conscious and responsible market will end up recognizing it.
I know that I am talking about a change of era, a revolution similar to that of Copernicus when he had the audacity to say that the center of what we today call the solar system was the Sun, when it had always been considered to be the Earth. It took time and courage to change this conception until everyone realized the reality. Today we are talking about putting human beings at the center of the economy, and we need much more courage, because we do not have time to wait a century for these ideas to be accepted
Change is necessary and possible, and I am convinced that new entrepreneurs with conscience will be the architects of this change.
* Joan Melé is president of the Dinero y Conciencia Foundation and leads the regional development process of ethical banking.
Source: Ambito
