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- Written by: Kamran Mofid
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An example of capitalism with no consience and no moral compass: The Case of the former MG Rover workers
A bit of background:
The "Phoenix Four" bought the business for £10 in 2000. They soon bankrupted the company. For this great achievement and personal scarifice, they then awarded themselves and the managing director a total of £42m. They condemned the workers to a life of abject poverty, whilst themselves running laughing all the way to the banks. They privatised all the benefits and socialised all the costs.
Is this what neo-liberal business and capitalism is all about?
Rover workers get £3 redundancy pay compensation after seven-year battle
Owners and MD pocketed £42m after buying Rover and when it collapsed set up a fund telling staff it will have 'millions' for them
“Former MG Rover workers are to be rewarded with compensation of just £3 each following a seven-year battle for redundancy payments in the wake of the collapse of Britain's last major carmaker"
Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/may/02/rover-workers-redundancy-compensation-pay
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- Written by: Kamran Mofid
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The Corrupting of the British Politics, Politicians and Institutions: A very sad day for democracy
Two Posh ones Making Britain Great Again! Photo:newstatesman.com
“The charge sheet is this. The government is led by a clique of toffs who have neither respect for their colleagues, nor empathy with the average voter. Their born-to-rule mentality means they have a greatly over-inflated view of their own capabilities, which deafens their ears to the advice and warnings of others who might actually know better. They are nothing like as good at governing as they think they are. And this, the charge sheet concludes, is now inflicting serious harm on both the country and the Conservatives' future electoral prospects. This view is now becoming more and more prevalent in the media, too, even among the press that the Conservatives would normally count as their friends.”-Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer, 29 April 2012
Posh boys stood on the burning deck when all but they had fled
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- Written by: Kamran Mofid
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Building Sustainable Future Needs More than Science
“Because human decisions and behavior are the result of ethics, values and emotion, and because sustainability directly involves our values and ethical concerns, science alone is insufficient to make decisions about sustainability”- Thomas Dietz, assistant vice president for environmental research at Michigan State University
At a recent conference of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) which was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, many of the experts present argued that the path to a truly sustainable future is through the muddy waters of emotions, values, ethics, and most importantly, imagination. I found this very interesting. This is very similar to what I, a none-scientist, but an economist, have been saying about economics for a long time now. This is why I wish to share the gist of the Vancouver forum with you, followed by a recommendation for your consideration.
The conference observed that, contrary to popular belief, humans have failed to address the earth's worsening emergencies of climate change, species' extinction and resource over-consumption, not because of a lack of information, but because of a lack of imagination. I very much agree with this, as I believe same could be said for the failures of modern economics.
“Humans' perceptions of reality are filtered by personal experiences and values… as a result, the education and communication paradigm of "if we only knew better, we'd do better" is not working… "We don't live in the real world, but live only in the world we imagine."
“We live in our heads. We live in storyland," and "When we talk about sustainability we are talking about the future, how things could be. This is the landscape of imagination,"… "If we can't imagine a better world we won't get it."
“This imagining will be complex and difficult. Sustainability encompasses far more than just scientific facts – it also incorporates the idea of how we relate to nature and to ourselves.” Once again, I find myself in total agreement with these comments.
This is why I am calling for a dialogue between science, economics, ethics, spirituality and moral philosophy. Our disciplines whilst firmly committed to the highest standards of scholarly excellence, should nonetheless, be firmly for the common good, pursue and encourage discussion of the practical and ethical dimensions of economic and scientific action, with the intention to contribute to both the advancement of a good and valueable science, as well as the building of a good economy in a good society.
I will be delighted to hear from you, if you are interested to follow this call for dialogue and action further.
To read more on the Vancouver conference see:
http://www.nationofchange.org/building-sustainable-future-needs-more-science-experts-say-1329748830
- Academic spring, taxpayers-funded research, and the public dialogue
- Wealth for the Common Good
- Work, Business, Money and Profit: What are all these for?
- Prof. Mofid to speak at the Spiritual Heritage Education Network (SHEN) Annual Conference at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
- Prof. Mofid to speak at the Awakened World 2012: Engaged Spirituality for the 21st Century, Rome-Florence, October 13-21, 2012