A new global consensus is now heralding values of compassionate capital, stakeholder value and conscientious consumption based on fresh economic assumptions. Business can provide employment and if managed sensitively it can eliminate poverty, transfer skills and empower people. A social enterprise can achieve more than an aid program because it is self-perpetuating. If run with consciousness and long-term vision it can strengthen individual identity and community. These are not mutually exclusive. Neither is self respect. Without it we cannot go anywhere. The police state solution can only fail in the end. It always does.
We have to think fusion (market and planning, top-down and bottom up), not black versus white. Integration of capital back to communities. Giving people jobs and hope. Building schools across the globe not bombing them with drones. Environmental protection and carbon reduction can also become an engine driving a new generation of technology, entrepreneurship, businesses and growth. It is the huge opportunity that business has been waiting for but cannot see because the talking heads keep talking rubbish.
The "megatrends" described above --social outrage and protest, convergence of social enterprise and corporate responsibility and a re-alignment of our financial architecture being driven by the "new south"-- are occurring in tandem. They are interconnected aspects of our changing world order. It is multi-dimensional. It is time for government to lead with new policies to address these issues. Listen to the people in the street and stop blocking your ears. Otherwise, they will take the power back. Because that is what is happening.
Here is a video our team made recently as part of a series exploring these matters: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xBM05QSpV8&feature=youtu.be
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