7gen Bloc

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt spoke at the recent Business for Social Responsibility conference -- the first time I've heard him. He was earnest, direct, self-critical. He never tried to sugar-coat his view that corporate responsibility won't succeed if it doesn't grow the business. ...

All over the world, millions of organizations and hundreds of millions of people are working to slow global warming, stop hunger, provide affordable health care, monitor human-rights abuses, protect endangered species, and work on tens of thousands of other projects to make the world a better place. ...

It's a hoary old adage, but it happens to be true: "those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." ...

"Why is it that some things are worth money and some things aren't? How is it that I can watch a sunset for free but I must pay to watch a movie? … We have convinced ourselves that what's valuable is what transacts for money. But very often what's valuable is other things like friendship and law and order and education and enjoyment of nature. We need to be a bit more holistic in the way we think about these things." ...

In 1985, a small band of idealists joined together to further the causes of human rights, women's rights, peace, and environmentalism. They bucked conventional wisdom when they launched their startup not as a do-gooding non-profit, but as a do-gooding for-profit -- specifically, a phone and credit-card company. ...