My last post, “ No logo? New logo!” may have sounded a bit too
revolutionary.
Let me explain some relevant biographical info: I am not an activist,
I’m just the father of a little girl who just turned 6 yesterday. I
started writing a book, “Princesse Anna,” to try to explain to her our
world today.
I must admit, it’s not easy. One of the chapters I wrote a few months
ago started like this:
I imagine Anna speaking to me in 2008 (at the age of 10):
“Daddy, did you kill people during the war?” It took me time to
understand why I wrote this sentence.
Then I remember learning WWII history at school. There were resistance
fighters, collaborators, and the vast majority who said, “they didn’t
know.” As a young boy, I asked my grandparents, “What were you doing
during the war?”
Today, we are experiencing an economical and ecological war.
Remember that the financial crisis in Thailand in 1997 killed more people
indirectly than the current war in Iraq.
Remember the oil spills in Alaska, sweatshops in China, etc.
When you put money into tobacco, oil, war companies, etc. you cannot say, “you didn’t know.”
Today the economy is the main concern. As CEOs, we have a responsibility.
What will you answer when your children ask, “What were you doing
during the war?”