Your need is my Business…. And the world is scaling back on needs.
I am not sure how it all started….But it must have been the need to eat to begin with…. Humans have needs…. Basic ones include eat, sleep, shelter, clothing… So business at its very basic can be defined as an act of servicing these needs …
As the human societies evolved the needs became more sophisticated and mass oriented…. The methods of servicing followed the sophistication of needs… To illustrate… the need to eat was to have basic cereals like wheat and rice with some vegetables… But as societies became more prosperous this need included meat, wine, fruits etc… In came getting food from outside (importing), animal husbandry.
This evolution of societies, civilization gave rise to needs like entertainment and leisure… which in turn gave birth to film industry and travel industry… As the world marched on towards the 21st century business had become more sophisticated than just servicing needs… With technology in his hand man has all but secured his basic needs…
A sustainable system would have been one with a balance between the needs and the business activities needed to service these needs… Also the source of all wealth in this world is Sun and Earth… Rest all are derivatives of wealth created from these two sources….
Modern economics gave rise to a whole new need… Need to want more… more of what? More of everything…. How much is enough asked him…. Just a little more said me…. No wonder the biggest industry of them all is to satisfy the need for greed… called the financial industry…. It consists of share markets, banks, hedge funds etc….
And this is where modern economics lost the plot…. The financial industry which was and should have remained a derivative of the underlying traditional business (business of servicing human needs)....Instead became the driving force of all business activities….With the help of marketing and advertising (another derivative of real business) financial industry started creating needs out of thin air and gave us means to service them without earning for them (or needing them) and called it human progress….
Need to be entertained on the train…. in comes ipods…. Need to stay in touch with family members, friends always… in comes mobile phones… Need to travel fast on roads with aircons ,surround sound and leather seats…. In comes BMW roadsters…. So the world lured by easy money of the financial world and perceived needs created by advertising and marketing went on a binge of I WANT MORE….
And then MAYA popped the bubble of man made bliss…. What is happening now ... The world is realising that they don’t need to eat so often… they don’t need to have 50 pairs of shoes … or cars that go at 200km an hour…. And man is cutting back on his needs….
When will he stop…. Ideally he should stop when he sees a balance between his needs and his share of real wealth coming from the Sun and Earth but he would stop some where much before that coz its his nature to want more than he needs.... Till then the world economic crisis will go on...
PS:- And all you global warming junkies… This might be the solution you all were looking for….
As the human societies evolved the needs became more sophisticated and mass oriented…. The methods of servicing followed the sophistication of needs… To illustrate… the need to eat was to have basic cereals like wheat and rice with some vegetables… But as societies became more prosperous this need included meat, wine, fruits etc… In came getting food from outside (importing), animal husbandry.
This evolution of societies, civilization gave rise to needs like entertainment and leisure… which in turn gave birth to film industry and travel industry… As the world marched on towards the 21st century business had become more sophisticated than just servicing needs… With technology in his hand man has all but secured his basic needs…
A sustainable system would have been one with a balance between the needs and the business activities needed to service these needs… Also the source of all wealth in this world is Sun and Earth… Rest all are derivatives of wealth created from these two sources….
Modern economics gave rise to a whole new need… Need to want more… more of what? More of everything…. How much is enough asked him…. Just a little more said me…. No wonder the biggest industry of them all is to satisfy the need for greed… called the financial industry…. It consists of share markets, banks, hedge funds etc….
And this is where modern economics lost the plot…. The financial industry which was and should have remained a derivative of the underlying traditional business (business of servicing human needs)....Instead became the driving force of all business activities….With the help of marketing and advertising (another derivative of real business) financial industry started creating needs out of thin air and gave us means to service them without earning for them (or needing them) and called it human progress….
Need to be entertained on the train…. in comes ipods…. Need to stay in touch with family members, friends always… in comes mobile phones… Need to travel fast on roads with aircons ,surround sound and leather seats…. In comes BMW roadsters…. So the world lured by easy money of the financial world and perceived needs created by advertising and marketing went on a binge of I WANT MORE….
And then MAYA popped the bubble of man made bliss…. What is happening now ... The world is realising that they don’t need to eat so often… they don’t need to have 50 pairs of shoes … or cars that go at 200km an hour…. And man is cutting back on his needs….
When will he stop…. Ideally he should stop when he sees a balance between his needs and his share of real wealth coming from the Sun and Earth but he would stop some where much before that coz its his nature to want more than he needs.... Till then the world economic crisis will go on...
PS:- And all you global warming junkies… This might be the solution you all were looking for….
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