On 'creative capitalism,' Gates gets it

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The essense of sustainable buisness

Thanks for the link. Always interesting to see two opposing views on the same speech.

I'd say my own opinion lies somewhere between both of them. Since corporations have a lot of resources, and since the practices of many corporations in wealthy countries have had an enormously negative effect on poorer countries (1), the public has (and should) put pressure on they to do good things in the world. I think companies can care about these issues without it merely being a public relations ploy. Some do it quite well, building large profits out of a philanthropic attitude (Endangered Species Chocolate is a personal favorite). This is the essence of sustainable business: not just to sustain the natural environment, but the human one, as well (even more so, really). I agree that business philanthropy should not stem from an argument based on pity, but from the real, profitable needs of people living in places with needs vastly different from those of the industrial world. There seems to be this trend in current economic thought that business should be based on convincing people they need things rather than providing them with things they actually do need. What Gates is saying is sound economic theory (as the blog points out, he didn't get where he is just being a nice guy) as well as sound humanitarianism. Whatever you think of Gates and his motives, the world would not be worse if more companies engaged in these sorts of business practices. Though such projects should be based on fulfilling real needs for the benefit of consumers, not shoving crap on them and calling it care (something MS is notorious for).

(1) http://www.physorg.com/news120157142.html

Posted by: deramin@...   Posted on: 01/26/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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