Human institutions – for humanity?

I had the chance to join a friend to go to a preview of Michael Moore’s film Capitalism – A Love Affair. This preview had the added benefit of hearing what people thought of it, as Paramount and Toastmasters had set the session up to include a chat.

In amongst the many views were things like:

1. The alternative is North Korea and MM is fat – this received a huge boo from the otherwise polite ‘toastmaster’ audience.
2. Any system has its flaws, the film points to the dark side of humanity, which directly profits from the weaker, lining the pockets of the 1%, which is already rich beyond imagination [holds 95% of the wealth]
3. A system which delivers the greatest good for the greatest number of people is needed
4. Democracy, capitalism and socialism can and do co-exist, e.g. Finland and by the way even US. The point is to put the combined and balanced system together such that it is effective.
5. The system fails as the laws, which were supposed to govern it have been overridden over time [financial deregulation, treasury powers in relation to the use of $700Bn; no recourse to inquire how the money is used]
6. Good film but over dramatised to tell the story
7. A film like this makes you think that there must be a better way
8. Australia has been following the US ideals for 20+ years, over the last 20 years Australia has become one of the most litigious country. Gimme some of that mentality! Are we there too? Yes we are.
9. You can be very rich today and on the streets with nothing tomorrow. It happens. The question is how a person is supported during those transition times? Illness, job loss, general economic conditions can make anyone become part of disenfranchised.
10. The fundamental issue is in the values.
11. Terminology like Democracy, Capitalism and Socialism get bandied about without due consideration of their meaning, nor how they apply in current world and era.
12. Ronald Regan was a puppet.

Some of the points made in the film, my additions in [ ] (more…)

Ponderings on a balanced society…

A happy society? What makes that happen? Where is the good model?

Some dimensions to bring about the conditions

I lived through an amazing transformation in Finland during the 90s. It did require a good level of consensus but it was helped by a crisis.

In the early 90s companies, like Nokia, and the whole country went into shock when overnight a major business partner Soviet Union was lost. It was crisis time. No better time for change. Why wait though…..looming crisis is enough. Luckily Nokia had already taken steps to broaden the market space and then had a very open mind to new potential revenue generators. A confluence of factors came together to build a very solid foundation for a global position.

The country had to tighten its collective belt to overcome the situation. Finland was lucky to have a couple of very strong, articulate, knowledgeable and teflonlike politicians who did not waver from a strong message of suffer now and benefit later. Esko Aho as prime minister and Iiro Viinanen as finance minister. Those were tough times. One can look at the numbers and believe that it was bad politics. The thing is that it was during that crisis time that Finland established the means for growth and repositioning.

That’s just a bit on where Finland came from and some of the tough decisions that led it to where it is today.

Finland rates high in education, innovation, and many other dimensions. During a talk some seven years ago I spoke to an innovation audience a little bit about Finland and Nokia and I mentioned a time magazine cover which alluded to something [gotta check what it was exactly] about how poorly Finland faired in the music industry or was it the opposite that there was some band that was recognized? Don’t remember but the point is that I said I think that if Finland wins in the Eurovision song contest then we know that this one country adulation has gone a step too far. Well you know what happened last year. I was trying to suggest to this Australian audience that maybe it was time to take that ‘adulation spot’….hmmm not quite yet. (more…)