A while back I said that I believe that the great work to be done at the beginning of this century is to create new organisational models that reflect our humanity. Our current business models don’t serve the people, only a very small group at the top. Corporatism is only helping the rich get richer:
“In 1980, the average corporate CEO earned 42 times as much as the average worker. In 1998, the average corporate CEO earned 419 times as much as the average worker. Today, the average Fortune 500 CEO earns 443 times as much as Hourly workers in their companies.”
The corporation as an entity has outlived its usefulness for humanity, and it’s time to find an alternative. This overview from a study guide for the documentary The Corporation, clearly shows the symptoms of a dysfunctional system:
“If the corporation can be viewed legally as ‘a person’ then why not socially? Actual internationally recognized diagnostic criteria are used to judge the behaviour of corporations and the picture that emerges is one of the corporation as self-interested, inherently amoral, callous and deceitful; it breaches social and legal standards to get its way; it does not suffer from guilt, yet it can mimic the human qualities of empathy, caring and altruism. Four case studies, drawn from a universe of corporate activity, are used to demonstrate harm to workers, human health, animals and the biosphere.”
It’s time to test out alternatives to corporate governance models in the private and public and social sectors. Dave Pollard has written an excellent article on how we can use the natural enterprise model to create sustainable ways of wealth generation, because our current models sure aren’t working:
“The whole capitalist system is a miserable failure, and it’s only the corporatists’ control of the media (and hence their ability to brainwash us into believing the system actually works), that has kept us from rising up and dismantling it.
Well, actually that’s not the only thing keeping us from overthrowing it: We don’t know what to replace it with. Socialist systems don’t seem to work. Totalitarian fascist systems certainly don’t work. So now we’re indoctrinated into believing that there are no other systems, and that we’re stuck with the capitalist (or more accurately, corporatist) system that is destroying our world (and eliminating the middle class in the process).” – Dave Pollard
Dave proposes three types of public organisations – Directorates, Auditors, and Agencies. Each with its responsibilities, limitations and controls. This reminds me of the US model of legislative, executive, and judiciary authority or the Canadian version of Crown, Commons, and Senate. Recent events in both countries show that we need to create new models, as the old ones get corrupted over time.
One place to start is at the local level, where we can have greater influence and perhaps see faster development of new models. This includes getting involved in local riding policy-making, testing organisations like a work commons or co-work space, and ensuring that local politicians understand the underlying systemic issues plaguing our society. As Dave says, “We have to do better. The old models don’t work, any of them. It’s time to try something new.“
A European friend recently told me about a TV program he saw about Lovelock’s Gaia Theory: they got a bunch of scientists together to discuss the Gaia theory, pros and cons. It was a lively debate. Tho most agreed with the broad principle, there was disagreement about how much time we have before the changes and damage are irreversible.
On one issue alone, however, the scientists were in complete agreement: will politicians (if it is left up to them) act in time to save the planet? Their answer: an unequivocal, no!