My view is that the economic crisis should be a big message to us that greed is not the answer. I liked Paul Newman’s example and it is meaningful that he died leaving us an example of ethical business only two days before the crash. What needs to take place is a massive wave toward ethical practice and long-term quality in products. We have to move away from the consume and throw away culture, live reasonably, and look to true value rather than just making numbers increase.

Nobody – I’ll say that again, nobody knows what the market will do tomorrow. It is a complex system. But you can guage risk levels and you can determine what YOU consider valuable in life and in the world. Then, whether the value increases or decreases, you have something to feel good about. Paul Newman used a for-profit corporate model to donate 100% of profits to charity, and it not only worked, the company thrived. He gave us a new ethical model. Not only did he give more to charity than a non-profit would, because he could tap profits from a larger group of customers than an organization dedicated for only that one charitable purpose, but he created a great work environment that his daughter, who founded Newman’s Own Organics division, will continue; AND their responsible mission of charity MUST feed back to wanting quality in the product itself; AND aside from all that, many people who just wanted salad dressing and spaghetti sauce, years later, discovered the joy of the fact that THEY were giving to these charities — so he even gave the give of giving!! What an example for Wall Street! A Win-win-win-win. So it is possible and it does work. This is the world we are heading for, with the help of socially responsible people who put their money where their heart is.

Cheers,
Dr. John J. Kineman

OrganicallyTvs last blog post..A humorous and eye opening short film about plastic bags