In 1864, shortly after the American Civil War ended, President Abraham Lincoln, said in a letter to Col. William F. Elkins:
‘We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing its end. It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood … It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavour to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.
I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless.”
What a powerful, prophetic and disturbing vision of the role of big business and one that sadly we are witnessing all too pervasively today. Here at azzur, we believe that business can change the world for the better and we see it happening – especially in the growth of the B Corp accredited businesses, the values underpinning many start-ups focused on social value not just profit, and the expansion of mass consciousness toward the greater good.
It’s easy to blame commercial business for being greedy, acting in self-interest and being willing to control and manipulate consumers, not to mention whole nations and governments. There is much speculation over the true motives for example, of the World Economic Forum. To what extent is it really working in the interests of a healthier, balanced and successful planet?
And commercial business, financial institutions and governments have a lot to answer for regarding the fundamental imbalance between the power they wield over people’s lives and the level of (lack of) responsibility they feel for upholding a higher standard in support of the greater good.
Equally as consumers, members of the human race and at least to some degree, self-determining, we have a responsibility to ourselves and all others to examine our own choices and values on every level – what we buy, where we work, what we speak about, the quality of our thinking, expanding our consciousness, how we lead, what we teach our children and the list goes on.
As we witness the breakdown in political institutions, economic instability on a massive scale and planetary and human destruction through environmental damage, economic inequality and wars to name but a few of our current contributions to human history, we can become defeated. An alternative perspective is that these very changes are the results of an expansion of our consciousness, and expansion of our awareness that life can be, should be better for everyone and that each one of us plays a part in making it so. Including business.
We can be passive actors in this great unfolding story of human life, or we can recognise that each of us has some ability – greater or lesser – to influence the reality we live in. We can change our world if we choose to change our own part in it.
Let’s create a new prophesy for the human race and for our planet – in cooperation with the businesses we work in, the people we work alongside and through the choices we make and actions we take. Let us enthrone an era of prosperity for all.