Many of the worst decisions are based on the notion that we must remain competitive – whatever it takes.
Sportspeople are willing to take banned substances, risking their health, reputation and livelihood, to be competitive.
Teachers and students are willing to cheat to obtain undeserved exam results to be competitive.
Countries around the world have wasted trillions of dollars in arms races to be competitive.
Politicians have chosen to ignore the science on climate change and continue to use fossil fuels to be competitive.
And when a billionaire property developer decides he wants to cut his taxes to 15% (not that he pays any anyway), our business lobby and politicians say we must do the same….to be competitive.
So who sets the bar and how low will we go?
Do we keep making bad decisions to remain competitive?
Is it even the role of government to be competitive?
In theory, free markets could work, as could communism, but that would require people, politicians and businesses to behave ethically. Sadly, any trust that they will do that has been completely smashed.
People around the world are recognising that they have been duped and they are angry and the blame for that lies squarely with corporate greed and the government corruption that facilitates it. They pushed their obscene obsession with wealth accumulation too far and forgot that they have nothing if they don’t have a workforce and consumers with disposable income.
So let’s change the thinking and be competitive in nurturing that workforce and those consumers and their living conditions. We have had decades of trickle-down and it has led to huge and widening inequality, rampant environmental destruction, and social unrest.
It’s time governments set the rules in the interest of the people and insist that businesses comply – not the other way round.
Put people first.
