So, exactly how and when did the human experience become so darned unsustainable?
For about 10,000 years, our communities were tightly intertwined with nature. Our impacts were local and mostly benign.
We would hunt, farm, fish and gather enough to feed ourselves and our neighbors. Our population was very small relative to the abundance that nature could provide.
I’m guessing that this probably began to change in the 20th century. My great grandparents (who were born in the waning years of the 19th century) were much more connected to nature than most people I know today. They grew their own food, sought water from their own well, and crafted many of their possessions with their own hands.
Now, I’m definitely NOT a Luddite, and I’m not advocating any kind of draconian return to “a simpler time”. But I think it might be informative to explore exactly how we came to be where we are.
I propose that one of the critical distortions might be related to Milton Friedman’s proclamation that “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits“. This absurd proposition continues to be a fundamental teaching in most business schools today.
Friedman argued that it was the duty of every business manager to avoid the wise application of judgment in favor of a rigorous commitment to enriching the business owners at every possible opportunity.
I suspect Dr. Friedman was a product of his times. Any western Cold War patriot was obligated to promote everything capitalistic and disdained anything socialistic.
From my perspective, the concept that profits should drive business to the exclusion of any other goal is as absurd as suggesting that that sole purpose of living is to breathe.
What if the “social responsibility of business” is to perpetually fulfill its mission?
A mentor of mine once told me that the most successful businesses are those that solve problems for its customers. If your mission is to solve a specific problem, and you can do it well, you will always have a supply of customers eager to help your business thrive.
Perhaps this little tweak in how we think about business might help lead us, in some small way, toward a more sustainable human experience.
