Taming the citizens in charge of Artificial Citizens

A friend of mine told me nowadays the fisherman does not bring the whole catch at once to the fish market- to control the price of fish and by the end of the day sometimes he has to throw the excess into the sea! That’s from the primary level.

When you look at the tertiary level the topic that appears in most headlines is 'shortage' of dollars and the resulting black market. (A little bit of research here and there (wiki, tourism ministry, stats) gave some figures. Basically, on average a tourist stays for 8 days and spends about 755 dollars (or foreign currencies). From July- September 2009 tourist arrival is 44332, 52388, 50396 respectively. A rough calculation on how much dollars (or foreign currencies) should be entering into the country from July- September gave a staggering 1.2 billion; 1.2 billion in foreign currencies should be circulating for various transactions within the tourism industry alone in the Maldives!)

You might say we are corrupt from top to the bottom. Of course we are and we will be fools if we expect power brokers in high places to address such issues in a society that flourishes on nepotism, greed and all the vices you can name.

Anyway, that got me to thinking and I stumble upon this e-book on power and accountability while googling..... It is based on United States, but it’s worth a read if you are interested in taming the wild corporate tigers and businesses. A quick skim through the book gave the insights below

A company or registered business (Artificial citizens) accepts the benefits, rights and protection of the system to pursue profits.
In return it is an obligation and a responsibility of the entity and its owners to conduct their business in a manner that is consistent with public welfare.

If we want a vibrant society that is based on justice, fairness and equity, it is the business of the public to see that the above ideals are a reality. Sadly, civil society action on corporate accountability, business ethics, and corporate social responsibility is almost nil and we need to change that.

References

Power and Accountablity by Rober A.G Monks and Nell Menow

Comments

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