Saints and Sinners?

Saints and Sinners? I really understand the need for certainty, it makes life easy, especially as it permits me to define myself in relationship to you - we are either the same or we are different. On a personal level, it's the way humanity has defined itself for all eternity. On a political level, it's short-sighted, damaging and fundamentally unhelpful.

I've been to two fringe meetings today, one on lottery funding and one on water foot printing. Some of the speakers, and many of the attendees were very quick to define charity and or not for profit as universally good, and anything, and possibly anyone connected with a corporation, or with profit -making as utterly bad. I wonder where this mindset comes from. When did some advocates of the NGO sector, get to determine the organisational morality, and translate that into personal morality.

It would be far more helpful for all parts of society if we each recognised that, even in the current economic climate, profit is the engine of money, that agent of change. Money may change situations for good or for ill. And granted, not all companies are responsible. However most people professionally engaged in the begetting of profit do not do so at the expense of all their principles and scruples. Likewise those engaged in advocacy and campaigning do not have the monopoly on appropriate / right responses.

Perhaps we can agree on this, at least. The social and economic issues we face, as a nation and as a planet will require our best thinking and best policymaking to manage, let alone solve. It's just possible that some solutions might be found from with the business community, and delivered by the NGO community. Perpetuating the myth that profit and business is entirely beyond redemption, and charity above scrutiny, may be comforting in it's clarity. Shame then that clarity alone, especially when mis-guided will hinder rather than help solve the big issues we face as a nation.

By Claire Levens