the merits of business, big and small

Institutions, Corporations & People-Addicts to Profit, Growth and Greed

the goal of big business today cuts so much deeper than driving year on year profit growth; they do so by driving addiction, dependency and obsession

Eureka, I think I’ve just said it all. The perfect Tweet.

But I haven’t of course, the true picture is so much more complicated than that, too complicated for a single article even.

Big business and industry are as much a product of our times as we are, although they do give a more condensed view of where we’ve come from, and where we’re heading.

So for those who’ve got the time and who’d like to engage a little more with the thought let me continue by asking you a simple question:

Have you noticed how people employed in industry (businesses, consultants, financiers. etc) no longer refer to people who frequent business as customers?

They refer to consumers and users instead. At least they stop short of addicts!

The word customers itself is a word rooted in the misty nostalgia of bygone days. People whose ‘custom’ it was to visit a particular store for example, as they went for a stroll; a charming word that reflects a valuable and loyal relationship.