COMFORTABLE FINANCE

Today, money buys us our needs and surpluses go to our comforts. The comforts lead us to more desirables, and the cycle begins to grow and expand. Finance becomes the extra cushions, whether it is through borrowings or profits or wealth. It removes us from the real world of nature - where nobody owns anything. Have you ever heard a bird saying I own a piece of the tree or the sky? For many forest dwellers, the concept of ownership of land is completely impossible and unthinkable. The aborigines were also against ownership of nature. So there is a cruel link between finance and legal rights which encourages the growth of the comfortable classes - and their increasing insecurity. The extra pillows actually make us more and more rest-less.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

This is the new buzzword which is creating a lot of noise - clearly there are a lot of genuinely enthusiastic people around. However, there is a fundamental clash between profit and social responsibility, the material culture and the ethical one which remains unresolved. In particular, there is no talk about spirituality and CSR as this is a 'personal' issue or many CSR believers are anti-religion. Social entrepreneurs work at the in-between area - in-between profit and social responsibility, trying at the same time to change the world for the better. There are encouraging developments, but deep systemic problems with the whole CSR agenda. The crux is the materialistic values of the modern world and the structure of finance and financial markets which are focused on measurable numbers and wealth creation. Until this changes, we may only be making cosmetic changes in a world strangled by greed.