As I ponder the themes of this site, I discover relevant current events, listing them in the nascent blog.
People or profit: Which comes first?
Profit rules as the engine of capitalism. Take this example: A Bank of America supervisor pressures employees to come to work in NYC despite the threat of the Covid-19 epidemic and pleas to remain home. The CEO, Brian Moynihan, purports himself as a responsible corporate head committed to CSR, including putting people before profit. Maybe not all senior execs got the memo. Read the NYT article for yourself. Then read how the CEO expresses his choice: the growth of shareholder return, i.e. profit. Of course.
Corporate media, like all media, must be critically assessed. Here the choice of the primacy of profit or people, or nature, becomes a primary ethical norm. Never lose sight of this fundamental ethical choice. Act accordingly as a consumer, investor, citizen, stakeholder. You matter.
Note that if corporations put profit first (what I call the Friedman Doctrine), the notion that capitalism will meet the challenges of CSR is unlikely, if not impossible. The choice is clear:
- Dark Money will seize its opening on behalf of capitalism, business as usual (BAU). Coalitions within capitalism will prevent any internal threat to its dominance. Wresting away control will be unlikely: See my Statement of Concern.
- The mirage of CSR will evaporate as hard decisions over people and the planet (literally a broad pro-life agenda) give way to profit.
The call for the USA from the NYT
Today, April 9, 2020, the New York Times published a bold initiative: The America We Need.
The larger project, however, is to increase the resilience of American society. Generations of federal policymakers have prioritized the pursuit of economic growth with scant regard for stability or distribution. This moment demands a restoration of the national commitment to a richer conception of freedom: economic security and equality of opportunity. That
