Business Vs. Politics December 28, 2009
Posted by Rio in : Adventure, Business, Rio , add a commentWhy is it that every time I look at the news, my eyes skip over the politics and go straight to the science and technology sections? The parts that talk about the latest innovation and the newest ideas? All the wonderful stuff that makes me excited about the future and makes me feel like I’m some sort of grand adventure in this life? It’s like I have to force myself to read about the things I know I should be informed about. Politics. Problem is, the world of politics seems so stale, stagnant, so glacially slow moving and negative that I rarely if ever am inspired by anything I read in that arena.
To me business is a much better way of affecting change in this world.
Somehow politics always seemed far too restricting. Maybe I’m ignorant. But in my chosen profession, whatever that is, I’d like to know I have the freedom to call someone a dickhead if they are, in fact, a dickhead. So I guess politics is out.
So wait, am I a “business woman?” Fuck no. I always wanted to be an adventurer. Or a crazy inventor. Like some sort of crazy mix between Lara Croft and Willy Wonka. Business is just a means to that sort of end. I blabbed on about how I think it’s the goal that allows all my other goals to follow.
The motives for art and passion can come from the crudest places. Who cares about landscapes? People care about the fact that Van Gogh cut off his ear for some woman. But he’s only rich now that he’s dead. Bummer. Business gets a bad rap, though. I saw a book on “Business” ethics in the library the other day and was floored to see that the image these geniuses chose for the book cover was of a guy walking a tightrope over a dangerous city.
Um…..wow, was my only thought. Being ethical in the business world is not really that hard, is it? Isn’t that the entire point of being your own boss? You can follow your own rules. Besides the fact that there is no such thing as “business ethics”. Ethics are ethics. If you have a different set of ethics for the work portion of your life, then your code of ethics is not valid. Sorry.
But back to making change. Change is affected by people, in the end. And whether that’s a politician or a scientist or the next Larry Page depends on the type of person, I guess. I always thought starting your own company was much less restricting and more effective than something like politics. The motives for change and passion don’t have to be entirely selfless in order to be legitimate. Many, many great things come out of forms of selfishness.
