Three Thoughts, Three Failings

Too often of late I have found myself saying three things.

The first is cursing the ideology of those around me. Though, to be fair, it is not their ideology itself that I curse. It is the blindness and zeal with which they pursue that ideology. Conviction and fortitude are desirable traits, but they must be tempered with wisdom and questioning. Too many ideologies concern themselves with solely the means or solely the ends. Both must be fully accounted for. Sometimes evil must be done to avert the greater evil. Sometimes nobility must be sacrificed for the greater good or the lesser evil. Always you must question and review your beliefs. Nothing is permanent. Nothing is always right. Some moderation if you please.

The second is "the author had a great idea. It's a pity he got most of the way through it, took a sharp right turn, and drove deep into the fields of stupidity". Ideas are attractive. New ones, old ones, shiny ones, disturbing ones. They have a way of festering within us. It is tempting to consider the world a simple place of black and white where our one idea can explain everything, where our one ideology can answer everything. The world is not that simple nor that easy. Our world is a wondrously complex and confusing place. We must resist the urge to apply our ideas in an extreme manner. Moderation is valuable, and whilst there are oftentimes when moderation must be applied in moderation, there are far more times when moderation should be applied without moderation. Extremism of any form is undesirable – most of the time.

The third is a self-explanatory statement:
Too often we fight against that which we hate and despise, instead of fighting for that which we love and believe.

It is this last idea that I have dwelt on the most of late. The affliction seems so prevalent. In myself, in my friends, in student politics, in life.

Terror. Hatred. Anger. These seem to be our motivations to fight. Where are the noble reasons? Where is the love? the honour? the belief?

Why must we always be laid low by our desire to survive? Where is our will to stand in the gaze of history and unflinchingly put ourselves forward for what is right and proper?

For what is right and proper both in means and in ends. For what is right and proper not only for ourselves but for our loved ones, our neighbours, and those we have never met.

George Bernard Shaw wrote "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

I disagree with him. The reasonable man adapts himself. The unreasonable attempts to adapt the world. Therefore, all change depends on the unreasonable.
There is a difference between progress and change. All progress depends on a different person. It depends on the ideal person. The person who is both reasonable and unreasonable. The unreasonable person seeks to impose their vision of the world upon everything. The reasonable changes their vision. The reasonably unreasonable person imposes their tempered vision upon the world. They take the truth, the belief, and the loves that they know and they bring them to the world as best they can. They ignore their hatreds, their prejudices, their biases. The unreasonable person believes they can reshape it all to their supposedly perfect vision. The reasonably unreasonable person knows their vision is just as flawed, just as horrid as the world around them. They seek not to do away with what they hate, but to nurture and support the good that is already present. It is through their actions that true progress, true improvement is achieved.

Pliny the Elder said "True glory lies in doing what deserves to be written, in writing what deserves to be read".

Fighting that which we detest deserves no story. A diatribe against those we hate deserves no readers.

The truly great fight for their beliefs not against their fears.

On the Failing of Principles

The ultimate test of an individual or organisation’s beliefs comes in times of adversity. It is easy in the good times to stand up and say “We believe in these things. We will live by this code."

Many individuals and organisations claim to hold ideals similar to those listed below:

* That being active within and supporting the community is a worthwhile and important function of business.
* That being loyal to and supporting one’s staff is an integral part of doing business.
* Less commonly held – That products and services should be sold only to those who need them and to whom they will help.

It is at times like the current global financial difficulties, that you get to see which organisations hold these beliefs in truth and which merely adhere to them for the PR benefits. Those organisations which scale back or renege on their community support pledges, those organisations which retrench their entire Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) departments, those organisations which render once-valued and experienced employees redundant, and those which embark on heavy-handed, non-needs-based selling programs with the sole excuse of “difficult times may lay ahead” have missed the entire point of their good works.

We need the good works of the various CSR departments more so in times of difficulty than in the good times. When more do you need experienced and highly competent staff than when work loads are increasing and pressure is mounting? Why is it suddenly acceptable to carte blanche ignore your previously stated core values?

I appreciate that there are times when one does need to make sacrifices to maintain the viability of an organisation. A group that runs itself into the ground trying to help people benefits no one in the long run.

There are times when redundancies and cut-backs are warranted and necessary. But I question how many of the redundancies in recent months were warranted and how many were merely Executive Management or the Board taking the opportunity to cut costs without taking the blame personally.

Boards and Senior Management have a duty and a responsibility to their employees and their communities to stick by their principles in both the good times and the bad.

A wise company should forever keep itself in a trim and well structured manner such that redundancies are never necessary.
A wise company should invest in its CSR department the most heavily when it’s community is in the most need – even if that means investing less in the good times and building a capital reserve for the bad times.
A wise company should function such that it need never make the choice between survival and sticking to its principles.

I have no doubt that many people will be saddened to discover that companies they admired or supported do not truly value the principles they claim to.
I will, no doubt, be saddened to discover how many companies try to hide their transgressions, to silence discussion within their ranks about redundancies, the cancelling of CSR programs, or to discover that when times get tough their employers put the pressure on the sales rather than providing the service and support they claim to hold as the essential priority.

Growth and financial success are not everything.
Indeed, they are nothing without a flourishing society in which to enjoy them.