I’ve described myself in the past as a reluctant capitalist due to observing activities that, although ‘allowed’, don’t really feel very honest. Take tax efficiency for example, or pharmaceutical licensing that prevents people in need from affordable treatments. Both totally allowed, but neither that nice, if we’re honest.
I came across two promising examples on the same day recently though which support my reluctance and belief that the evils aren’t the only way.
First was the article Jamie shared in Slack* about ’Halifax being the latest company to be caught out by Google.’ As a director at an agency that spends an inordinate amount of time encouraging people to better their business rather than just their SEO, this felt like a great new case study.
Secondly, via Daring Fireball, came the graph on Realplayer, showing that if you do all the evil and build your entire offer on it, then you’re just setting yourself up for a fall. This is not to ignore that there’s money to be made before the fall, sadly, but does at least show that it’s not the sustainable of very enjoyable route to take, perhaps.
While classically I don’t think there’s much room for honesty in business then, it’s examples like these that make me feel less daft in my desire to be a conscientious capitalist.
* Post notes. More on Slack soon. If you don’t know it though, sign up now and ignore the awful name.
Documenteering 