After Covid-19, business must come second to people and community.
We have been fed a sociopathic business narrative for too long - the one that says we must put profits, the economy, endless (mindless) growth, above people and community.
The origin of business is the exchange of value between people. We have forgotten that. The prevailing narrative is that business is an end in and of itself. Our governments buy into that too, touting that a surplus is paramount above all considerations. A government that places making money above the wellbeing of its people is negligent.
And yet, all it takes is a pandemic to remind us that people and community is what makes life possible. In times of personal or global crisis, we turn to people. That is the only real thing. The economy, stock markets, etc are no more than abstract systems we have created, and then put on a pedestal above all else. People turn to each other for support. They don’t turn to their bank accounts. The most amazing national surplus is pointless if the people are suffering.
We divorce business considerations from people and community considerations - as if somehow, business can exist in a vacuum. No one is a self-made billionaire. Because their business would still have leveraged unpaid passions, unacknowledged extra-miles of its workforce. Because their business would still ride on the backs of infrastructure (transport, education, healthcare) paid for by the community,
Without people and community, business will not exist.
Without people and community, endless business growth, a brilliant surplus, celebrity entrepreneurship are all meaningless.
Without the current mode of doing business, people and communities will continue to exist.
Business should support people and communities, not the other way round.
