#Amazon: A suitable case for #Purpose ?
Jeff Bezos wants your ideas on philanthropy we read last month following the Amazon takeover of Wholefoods Markets.
Did he really mean it, or was it just a palliative to comfort the advocates of Conscious Capitalism and those who see wealth accumulating in a handful of people.
I was reminded of what our founder wrote 20 years ago when he questioned the purpose of business:
It is only when wealth begins to concentrate in the hands of a relative few at the expense of billions of others who are denied even a small share of finite wealth that trouble starts and physical, human suffering begins. It does not have to be this way. Massive greed and consequent massive human misery and suffering do not have to be accepted as a givens, unavoidable, intractable, irresolvable. Just changing the way business is done, if only by a few companies, can change the flow of wealth, ease and eliminate poverty, and leave us all with something better to worry about. Basic human needs such as food and shelter are fundamental human rights; there are more than enough resources available to go around — if we can just figure out how to share. It cannot be “Me first, mine first”; rather, “Me, too” is more the order of the day.
For what it’s worth, I shared our work with Jeff Bezos, describing the New Bottom Line.
