Posts Tagged by corruption
Restraining Those Who Wish To Profit at the Expense of the Rights of Others — Follow Up
| May 3, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Sustainability |
The reader who sent me the article yesterday on which my post Restraining Those Who Wish To Profit at the Expense of the Rights of Others was based comments:
I notice in your response that you used the word “corruption” to describe the corporate polluters. That might be too strong a word to use in general. Read More
Corporate Role Models in Sustainability — Coming Soon
| April 16, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Sustainability |
It’s the birthday of the British novelist Kingsley Amis who wrote: “If you can’t annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.” I’m wondering how many of us read his novella Lucky Jim in our English classes when we were young; I thought it was really good.
I have to laugh about this quote, though, because I’m sure there are people who say that this is essentially what we do here at 2GreenEnergy: annoy people – in our case with our frequent accusations of corruption, greed, stupidity, and injustice. I’m aware that a healthy percentage of these articles condemn at least something, whether it’s a group, a person, an idea, or some combination.
In fact, that’s the reason I’m so anxious to get cranking on our “corporate role models” piece (coming soon), which will counterbalance this by heralding the good things that so many people are doing within the corporate settings in which they work.
Clean Energy Will Come When We Clean Up Government
| January 22, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Here, Ronald Reagan’s budget director David Stockman speaks to the level of corruption that exists between Washington and Wall Street. I’m always impressed with people who enjoy the luxury of self-criticism; Stockman is clearly remorseful for the position he took in the 1980s.
Anyone who expects capital formation around clean energy in the face of this type of cronyism is dreaming. We either fix this, or we suffer the consequences.
Environmentalist Bill McKibben: Get Angry at Corruption in Congress
| January 5, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Here’s environmentalist Bill McKibben at his best, pointing out that we should shelve the resentment and cynicism that we feel for corruption in Congress, and start to show how we truly feel: ANGRY. He writes, “We’ve reached the point where we’re unfazed by things that should shake us to the core.”
According to James Hansen, the government’s premier climate scientist, tapping Canada’s tar sands for the Keystone pipeline would, in the end, essentially mean “game over for the climate.” So how could Speaker of the House John Boehner insist that the Keystone approval decision be speeded up? Well, he’s gotten $1,111,080 from the fossil-fuel industry during his tenure. His Senate counterpart Mitch McConnell, who shepherded the bill through his chamber, has raked in $1,277,208 in the course of his tenure in Washington.
McKibben refers to cynicism as “a sucker’s game.” Until we demonstrate how truly outraged we are, we’ll get exactly the degree of change we deserve: none. As Frederick Douglass reminds us, “Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.”
MoveToAmend — Ridding Government of Corruption
| November 9, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
It’s good to see MoveToAmend.Org gaining steam. On Tuesday, an overwhelming 75 percent of voters in Missoula, Montana said that corporations aren’t people, and shouldn’t receive the same legal treatment as people.
The referendum’s sponsor, Councilwoman Cynthia Wolken, is apparently pretty happy too. “I’m over the moon about it,” she told reporters.
The measure – similar to others across the country – calls on the U.S. Congress and state leaders to amend the U.S. Constitution to say that corporations are not human beings. It earned 10,729 votes in favor and 3,605 against.
Again, if there is any hope for a just and productive future for America, it means ridding our government of corruptive influence, and MoveToAmend offers the only effective way to make this happen.
We’re Headed to Hell in a Handbasket — But Can Clean Energy Help?
| September 12, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Sustainability |
I’m generally pessimistic about the quality of life that I see for most Americans in the foreseeable future. There are so many general reasons for this: lack of American competitiveness in the global marketplace, our failures in education, declining work-ethic, dogged adherence to clearly unsustainable business practices, over-consumption, under-saving, and corruption, resulting in the failure of our elected officials to lead us in directions that are truly good for us in the long-term.
But along with those general reasons, here’s a specific one, along with an anecdote to illustrate my point. The people working in the trenches of Corporate America – most of the specialists, managers, directors, vice presidents, etc. – are terrified of losing their jobs, and are not taking any actions whatsoever that might endanger the tenuous hold they have on their careers – even if such actions are clear winners for the corporation that issues their paycheck.
As to the anecdote, I have to keep this totally anonymous, so forgive my lack of detail. I just got off the phone with an old friend, whose old-line Fortune 500 company had two successful engagements with Mueller/Shields, the marketing services firm of which I was managing partner for 15 years. Over the past few months, my friend has made numerous attempts to bring me in for a third campaign, each of which was rebuffed. I called him just now in an effort to see if he wanted to take a new tack, or otherwise make another run at this.
“I’m leaving the company, Craig. It’s dying, as I’m sure you can believe. We’re unable to get our act together, and we’re pulled apart by business unit managers who do not and will not work together to refashion the company into something that could be relevant to today’s world. I can’t stand being here, watching masses of people, all frightened to get whacked in the next round of lay-offs, covering their asses, afraid to do something that could get them fired, even though those are the very actions that could save the company. I’ve been hired by a start-up with a brand new product delivery model, and they want me to take that vision into the marketplace.”
I hate to sound like an alarmist, but we appear to be facing the “end of an era” for the American Empire in so many ways – and the extinction of the corporate dinosaurs whose culture doesn’t fit the ways of the modern world is perhaps the most obvious example. But, as they say, “everything’s good for somebody,” and let’s recall that the extinction of the literal dinosaurs 65 million years ago paved the way for the life forms that culminated with homo sapiens. Similarly, the demise of our institutions that are evolutionarily unfit will give rise to a new epoch.
But what will it look like? Here’s where “new energy” – meaning a combination of renewables and efficiency — comes into the picture. If we in the U.S. can embrace this bold new arena, it will go a long way towards creating the prosperity and sustainability that could change the course of all this.
What Will Life on Earth Be Like in 2111?
| June 4, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
An old friend told me the other day that his 25-year-old son had asked him what he thought life on Earth would be like in 100 years. Quite a good question, I think. But are there any answers that don’t scare the pants off you? With extremist governments with nuclear weapons, another century of environmental destruction, the steady creep of corruption, the world population growing exponentially – and the US government deficit doing the same – could this possibly have a happy ending?
I’m not optimistic, but I haven’t given up, either. As I told him, “That’s why I write. When people stop caring … as soon as people no longer speak and write about this stuff, and involve themselves in the issues, then we truly are done.” (I actually didn’t say “done.” I chose a different, more expressive term from our modern vernacular.)
Why the Migration to Renewables Is So Slow
| April 13, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Sustainability |
The other day, a friend forwarded me an invitation to audition for a space in the Ted Talks. Wow! The notion that I have any “Ideas Worth Sharing” (their tagline) is more than little flattering.
In my mind, the only concept I have that is even remotely worthy of the Ted Talks is the concept I’m developing for my next book: the true reason that renewable energy really isn’t happening in the US. Without a doubt, the answer to that one would be quite worth sharing.
Yet, from what I’ve been able to gather, it seems that the answer is simple; in fact, it is summed up in a word: corruption.
The reason our energy mix is dominated by sources that carry with them environment ruin, never-ending wars, lung disease, and ballooning national debt is nothing other than the unlovely effect that Big Money has on the political landscape. It’s the same reason we can’t have meaningful reform in banking or healthcare. It’s what lies behind the declining levels of nutrition in our food, and the degradation of pop entertainment: money.
Again, I’m flattered that someone thinks I have a Ted Talk in the making. But even if I do, I’m not sure how the judges would respond to a talk whose answer to the question is exactly one word in length.
The Renewable Energy Discussion — Patterns Emerge
| November 5, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
When I get up every morning, I take my cup of coffee, sit down, and read the news in the energy sector – often including a few comments from bloggers. As one might expect, there are patterns that develop, a common one of which is exemplified below: the argument that free-market economics has determined that fossil fuels should be the dominant form of energy – with the counter argument that there is nothing truly “free” about “free-market economics.”
Person A: The price of crude oil, natural gas, coal etc will decide how and when people will switch to alternative energy sources, not cheerleading by solar energy industry.
Person B: In other words, the switch to alternative energy will be determined by what happens in terms of the billions and billions in government subsidies that keep the price of oil, natural gas and coal artificially low. Read More
"On Corruption" – Numerous Comments
| March 17, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
I appreciate all the comments to my recent article “On Corruption.” If my schedule permitted me time to respond to them all, I certainly would.
For some perverse reason, I am more apt to pry loose a few mintues to reply to comments that put me on the defensive – especially astute ones, like this one from Andrew, who asks some very good questions, including:
“You seem to be against a profit motive in health care. If so, you are on the wrong side of history. Whenever the profit motive is removed, innovation is also greatly diminished (if not eliminated). Do we want that in our health care?”
And …
“Would you argue that the profit motive should also be removed from your own industry?”
Whenever I wax philosophic, I know I’m doing so at the risk of alienating large groups of people. And insofar as I’m primarily a businessman and not a philosopher, I should probably keep my utopian ideas to myself. But as long as it’s come up, I may as well say that, in an ideal world, I think that certain human pursuits should be not a part of our for-profit world. I would start with criminal justice — but right behind that I would put healthcare. I believe professionals in this arena should be well very paid, but I think it’s clear that a profit motive works directly against the health and wellbeing of everyone in our society – except, of course, shareholders.
Again, I hesitate to mix political philosophy with business, but if you want to know more about my ideas here – including how I believe that the pharmaceutical industry should be reined in against its attempt to completely rape our people, please see this essay.
Thanks again for the honest communication, Andrew. And please keep up the counter-argument. It’s only by questioning our beliefs that we grow.
