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More corporate ethicswash??

pirate | 18.06.2006 13:53 | Ecology | Globalisation | Social Struggles | World

Article in The Obserber- business June 18th on who corporations are supposedly sooo worried out their eco etc image they're upping there ethical creds.... (as if...)

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalisation/story/0,,1800067,00.html

Coming to terms with the forces of anti-globalisation

Multinationals know they must adapt to survive. Being seen to behave ethically is as important as making profits, reports Nick Mathiason

Sunday June 18, 2006
The Observer


Oil giants foment gang warfare in developing countries; their negligence causes catastrophic environmental disasters. Ruthless mining firms stop at nothing to secure lucrative concessions, bribing officials and even toppling democratically elected governments.
Big Pharma obstructs access to vital life-saving medicines for the world's poorest. Consumer titans douse their unhealthy wares with sugar and salt while simultaneously buying up burgeoning ethical brands to own and control the nascent competition. Rich world agribusinesses suck on the teat of state subsidies while demanding poor nations give them access to their markets.


Article continues on link.......................

pirate

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Bad start

18.06.2006 18:30

This article states a nonsense when it says that ethical behaviour is as important as profit. It is not. If we think of profit and ethics as ends and means it makes the whole thing a good deal easier to comprehend. The end of any capitalist business is profit. That's their whole point. The means to this profit vary - they may entail low wages, brutality, long hours, bonusses, employee reward schemes, school computer vouchers and so on, but they will only be pursued if they contribute to continued or increased profits. Should they threaten the continued capacity of a company to be profitable (whether over the long or short term), they will be abandoned. Ethics are therefore subservient to profit.

Lee