Thursday 31 January 2013

The future of the world

I read this fascinating article on The Guardian website.

Do the roots of humanity stretch around the world?


Food for thought for sure but it invites as many questions as solutions at this stage.






  • First up is the thought 'how many times has something similar been said in the last century or more?'
    • I can imagine that there have been many great thinkers from Adam Smith to Jeremy Bentham and even Malthus who have posited that profit can not be the only aim of business in a civilised world.
  • Then, is there any real way to get all the world's business and political leaders around the same table to make it happen?
    • In a week when the London Underground proposed later running tubes only to be shouted down by the unions, people whose livelihoods depend on the same system in the same town, can the diverse interests and fields of all business and communities really be brought under one umbrella set of regulations?
  • Can we ever reach a point where all the experts agree?
    • Even today there are people in power and experts who can't agree on the realities of climate change. Some are absolutely convinced it is not happening, others believe mankind has had a huge and continuing impact.
  • Can we be sure that any ideology proposed by any one nation or company is not imposing something entirely alien on others?
    • The simple idea of consuming horsemeat has this week shown divisions in Europe that are cultural and historical and that neither side would view as being wrong or negotiable.
It's a noble idea to make the world run on more ethical terms and one I wish more people subscribed to, but is it realistic to expect so many diverse interests to be able to come together and make it work?

How would you change the world for the better?


3 comments:

  1. This is an interesting article that raises some good points, perhaps more people working fewer hours around the world would balance out the rich/poor divide a little.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21242782?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another article on the redistribution of working hours
    http://www.inc.com/laura-entis/25-hour-work-week-an-argument-for-redistributing-working-hours.html (you have to close a pop up to see it)

    ReplyDelete
  3. More on making the bottom line less about money and more about impacts http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/17/fantasy-economics-things-get-better

    ReplyDelete

What do you think? Please be kind and thoughtful.