One of the most well developed dichotomies of the modern world is the division between successful business and social responsibility. For me the most important debate during the 2015 UK Elections was about big businesses, and the wealthy members of our society paying their ‘fair share’. As ’ The Ethical Entrepreneur’, I believe that the success of business, and a growing economy don’t have to lead to social destruction, or the loss of moral values so often seen in the national press in recent years.
We have all read the front page stories about the bankers bonuses, about the supermarkets abusing their suppliers, about the overuse of zero hours contracts and about stagnating wages. Economists, politicians, business leaders, our next door neighbors; they all seem to have opinions about what should be done, and yet no-one I know seems to veer far from two mutually opposing positions; “capitalism will always result in the abuse of workers rights” or ’there are no real problems with our system, people just need to work harder”.
In this blog, The Ethical Entrepreneur, I shall be presenting a third view; a view that tries to find a balance between the extremes. I disagree with the idea that capitalism as a system is objectively good or bad, but simply that it is a reflection of the agents acting within it – and as such is comprised of many shades and variations of activity.
By starting from this position, I aim to suggest pragmatic solutions to current issues, by presenting an examination of facts and recognising that no situation is entirely black or white – in any conflict, both sides must be acknowledged or an equitable solution can never be reached. This blog is not aimed at big businesses, or at disgruntled employees; it’s not aimed at the Left, nor the Right; neither the rich, nor the poor, but at those interested in debate, and ideas, and an exploration of a way of thinking – a socially responsible, ethically aware pragmatic examination of issues in business and politics today.
I enjoy a good debate and strongly encourage people of all opinions to leave comments. I have a generally anti-censorship policy, so as long as you remain reasonably polite your comments will never be removed. I do however, reserve the right to remove comments deemed to be extreme personal abuse, slanderous accusations or spam. Please don’t hesitate to create links to your own website or other interesting articles, and as long as these are kept relevant to the article or discussion they will be not be deleted.