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| I Am Skooter | |
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So here's us, on the raggedy edge.
If this were the last night of the world/ What would I do? / What would I do that was different / Unless it was champagne with you — Bruce Cockburn, Last Night of the World |
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Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Prize for his efforts to help some of the poorest people on the planet. His book is well worth reading.
Yunus points out what should be obvious, in my opinion: money need not be the only motivation for business. Businesses can be driven by social consciousness and impact as well.
1% For The Planet was started by Yvon Chouinard for this reason: to give Patagonia a social conscience.
The Mountain Equipment Co-Op is a member, and often trumpeted as a socially responsible business. Of course, their co-operative status means they don’t make the same business tax contributions to the Canadian economy as conventional businesses.
Do the positives cancel out the negatives in this case? Yunus might not agree: by skirting around corporate taxes, the Co-Op is undermining Canada’s network of social services.
A social conscience is a complicated thing, and there are no easy answers.
Posted by skooter at 4:30 AM
This entry is filed under Politics.
This entry is tagged: Economics, Nobel Prize, poverty