What Brings Business and Society Together and Pulls Apart - Essay Example

27 November Assignment Society is an ambit for various individuals to come forth and portray their ideas for the purpose of bringing about technological revolution within the world. Business is the trade that people carry on so that people in society can meet the needs for their demands and wants by the sale and exchange of goods and services. Simple economics works when a society flourishes because of an ongoing business, and the same is reciprocated when a business booms and develops because of the society within which it prevails. Thus business and society go hand in hand with each other, however at the same time there are a vast amount of comparisons and contrasts related to both these aspects, which have been discussed within the purview of this paper. As per general economics, it becomes imperative to understand that the power of the world lies in a few hands. People still live according to Karl Marx’s class structure where power is the aspect that clearly draws the line between the haves and the have-nots of society. Society is thus broken up into various segments where people are divided on the basis of their purchasing power. Thus, only the powerful and rich have power in their hands to be able to do something about the social issues that we are faced with today. They have the ability to run factories and industries, employ the poor and develop the economy in the process. On the other hand, the ideas of a business need to be in accordance with the requirements of a society in order to give back to the people and do some good to the planet. Friedman writes on page 69 of his renowned book, Hot, Flat and crowded, ‘Innovation around sustainable energy and resource productivity is our only way out of this problem (of the need for a more sustainable growth model).’ He talks about the ‘cradle to cradle’ concept that has been put forth by McDonough and Braungart where the two talk about putting forward designs for the purpose of recovering and reutilizing product components as biological or technical nutrients. A blazing social issue that has been taking over the world is meeting the climate’s needs and keeping global warming in check. Most businesses around the world are booming and doing well because they are being able to inculcate newer technology within their work sphere. However, at the same time, society is not benefitting from the same because such technology is hampering the environment and leading to a various amount of problems. Global warming is becoming a grave social issue in today’s day and age because of the threat that it poses to all of existence; the climate around the world is getting warmer, seas and oceans and drying up and a large amount of marine as well as land life is dying. To add to the problem, the world is only progressing and moving ahead, i.e., technology and the growth of industries are required in order to come up with solutions to counter this issue of climate change. However, the introduction of such sources of energy requires some amount of sacrifice on part of the environment because technology does after all take a toll on the atmospheric surroundings People all over the world are engaged in playing ‘green politics’ these days and this is extremely compatible with the big business and entrepreneurial scene because the need for clean and green energy in order to save the environment calls for newer enterprises and business ventures where people are able to apply their minds and scientific temper and come up with ideas of how to make the world a better and greener place, while destroying it at the same time. Friedman writes that the focus of America needs to shift from concentrating on making money in the field of IT or information technology to ET or renewable environment technologies. There is a lot of scope for the growth of companies and business enterprises in this field and more and more people need to engage in work in these areas in order to save the Earth from collapsing because of extreme temperatures. This thus helps us to witness the business point of view that is adding to global warming. Society at the same time, is full of people who ac carelessly and pollute the environment from time to time. Getting dirty has become a habit for people who do not understand the meaning of conservation and preservation of both natural as well as renewable resources. They need to be educated about the ill effects of the same. These individuals are further the ones who are working in big businesses and if they are not able to consciously make efforts in their daily living regarding the protection of the environment, then they will not be able to put forth such ideas in their work sphere either. This is how business and society have been affecting each other on the grounds of global warming, a largely alarming social issue. Friedman writes, “If their (people in poor, fragile states) basic freedoms and basic needs - food, housing, education, and employment - are not met, they could be easily attracted to violence, civil unrest and extremism.”(pg 29) The world is undergoing fierce competition for the purpose of making use of scarce resources; every individual wants and has a demand for commodities that he may or may not be in a position to purchase. Thus, basic human needs need to be achieved by every individual at least for the purpose of surviving and Friedman has touched upon the same by elaborating on the key issues of energy demand and supply. A number of technologically adept companies like Apple and Wipro have made a large number of significant changes in the way they have been responding to climate change. In other fields as well, efforts have been taken in order to make the world a better place by giving back to society through the way of corporate social responsibility which mostly includes taking care of the environment. Is Friedman’s association of asking people to come up with solutions fair? In a way, it is, because the world is ruled by a number of dictators in terms of these entrepreneurs, according to him. They are the ones that formulate the country’s foreign policies and have the power to make changes. On page 116, the author mentions that, ‘the only important holes left in the science of climate change are whether it will be "serious or catastrophic" and whether we will reach that point sooner rather than later.’ The book is broken up into various arguments with respect to Friedman’s views and assessments and whether or not they will be acceptable to the world at large today. in theory, writing is easy, however, the real test to the author’s thought process and writing skills will only be put to use when the same works out in practicality and the world looks at itself as a better place in the next twenty five or so years. Every business in the world is trying hard to comply with what society wants, however at a price that the environment has to pay. People have growing demands day by day, and in order to meet them and make business grow, it has become imperative for industries and firms to go beyond their reach and try and make the world a more comfortable place for society to live in. However, then who should the blame fall upon, business or society? Where a business is a platform for people to share and exchange ideas for a better tomorrow, society makes up the ‘tomorrow’ because it is the people on whom the business is prevalent, and no business can work if people are not there to run it. At the same time, business is trying to make amends, as seen in the examples above, to make changes in order to not harm the environment, and also at the same time, through the branches of corporate social responsibility, make sure that people are educated about the ill effects of the environment. People that make up society on the other hand, are not as much bothered about saving the environment because it does not affect them on a personal level at the moment. In time however, hopefully the world will become away, both on the level of a business as well as a society, as to how to take care of the environment and nurture it for the future generations. Business and society are two aspects that will never come to a standstill because as long as society will keep flourishing, it will ask for a bigger and better business to boom and at the same time, the climate will keep on deteriorating because of the effects of both these aspects if people do not start making changes in the way they present themselves within society as well as on a professional business level. Works Cited Marx, Karl. “Wage Labour and Capital”, in Tucker, Robert, ed. The Marx-Engels Reader, New York, W.W. Norton & Co. 1978. Pp. 203-217.  Friedman, T. L. (2008). Hot, Flat and Crowded. Graff, G. M. (2008). "In Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Thomas Friedman Calls for a Green Energy Revolution". Wired Magazine. Easterbrook, G. (2008). "Its Time To Turn Down the Heat". Slate Magazine. Taibbi, M. (2009). Flat N All That. New York Press. Marx, Karl. “Wage Labour and Capital”, in Tucker, Robert, ed. The Marx-Engels Reader, New York, W.W. Norton & Co. 1978. Pp. 203-217. Read More