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and morality which then expresses it
self in suicide, violence, drug addic
tion, crime and other hideous deeds.
N ot exactly what Dr. King had in
mind, but nevertheless prophesied;
"W hatever affects one directly, affects
all indirectly ."
Not all transnational corporations
are consciously or unconsciously ex
ploiting human beings and the envi
ronment. The winds o f change are out
there. Many small businesses and more
and more transnationals are adopting
w hat might be called “socially and en
vironmentally resp o n sib le’ business
practices. Specifically they are look
ing to m easu re th eir p erfo rm an ce
by m u ltip le “b o tto m lin es” adding
em plo y ee n eeds, cu sto m er needs,
com m unity needs and en v iro n m en
tal needs to the fin an cial need m ea
sure. W hen th e se m e asu res are
taken seriously, com panies do w hat
they should do, serv e the needs o f
hum anity w ith o u t ex p lo itatio n o f
peo p le o r the en vironm ent.
But, as Dr. K ing so often said, the
m ain hope is w ith us, the people.
O ur answ er lies in b u ild in g local
com m unity to reduce d ep endence
on tran sn atio n al co rp o ratio n s. W e
can’
est 20% receiving 1.4%.
“ Futureless grow th” has resulted
in the decline o f every m ajor living
system on earth, our oceans, our fresh
water, our air, our forests, our soil, and
most wild life.
“Rootless g row th” refers to the
destruction o f cultures in our neigh
borhoods and small towns as well as
replacing centuries old local cultures
with hedonism, crass materialism,
destructive competitiveness, and ego
tism.
“Voiceless g row th” is economic
growth devoid o f respect for human
rights and democratic processes es
sential to society.
To this we might add “ M eaning
less grow th” when these unhealthy
forms o f growth result in a loss o f
creativity, perspective, meaning, hope
T u rn o f f the telev isio n . P ro tect
our children from the constant b o m
b ard m en t o f v io len ce, greed, h ate
and m aterialism w hich is everyw here
on television.
Join the “ sim p licity m o v em en t” :
co n scio u sly p u rch asin g o nly w hat
w e tru ly need, b u y in g o nly item s
w h ich are recy clab le an d /o r o r
g anic, an d /o r ask in g sales p eo p le if
they know if m aking and d istrib u t
ing the p ro d u ct in v o lv ed e x p lo ita
tio n o f peo p le or the en v iro n m en t.
B uy local and o rganize co m m u
n ity buying. Buy item s co llectiv ely
w ith neighbors or colleagues or jo in
an existing cooperative. Shop stores
w ith local sourcing. A sk q uestions.
B uild co m m u n ity b y v o lu n te e r
ing in local co m m unity p ro g ram s
and churches.
F or in sp iratio n , w e can ag ain
turn to Dr. King:
“C an a n onviolent, d irect-actio n
m ovem ent find ap p licatio n on the
international level, to confront ec o
nom ic and political p roblem s? I b e
lieve it can .” A nd further: “ I have
the co n v ictio n that the u n iv erse is
on the side o fju stice. C onsequently,
the b eliev e r in n o n v io len ce has
deep faith in the fu tu re.”
B y B rad S mith
M artin L uther K ing advocated
nonviolence as a w ay o f life, so did
M ahatm a G andhi 1 have found that
violence occurs at m any levels in our
lives. In the pursuit o f profits o r ju st
a better incom e, business m anagers
and individual em ployees m ay often
let go o f their integrity, m om entarily.
I believe dish o n esty and a lack o f
integrity are subtle, very costly forms
o f violence. L iving your life in com
plete h o nesty, truth, integrity and
love as a w ay o f doing business is a
daily act o f courage and is the h igh
est form o f no n v io len ce one can
achieve.
M any o f us have spent tim e g aug
ing an outw ard effect o f a lie. W hether
the en d w e w an t w ill be b etter
achieved w ith w ords o f truth o r not
or w hether w e w ill feel sham e and
guilt. F ew o f us look in tern ally at
w hat the lapse o f self-caring that
relationship w ith them selves. I ask
them to view the violence they ex p e
rience, how ever subtle, as a reflec
tion o f the b e lie f system s they hold.
Ifth ey are the victim s o f violence, do
they hold a victim b elief about them
selves or are they v ic tim ize s or both?
I w ork w ith them to grow their skill
for external and internal honesty.
M y successful clients develop their
skill for creating th eir life events
from self-carin g an d self-love.
It is p o ssib le to b u ild a business
and a life on the basis o f nonvio
lence that holds integrity, dignity,
honesty, creativ ity an d respect for
the individual as the only ac cep t
able fo u ndation for each decision
made. L ook at w hat it takes for an
individual to flourish, expand that to
custom er relations, m arketing and
business an d you w ill find in that
very su b tle n o nviolence a sy n er
gism that grow s profits b ey o n d your
expectations.
allow s a lie to do w ith our internal
relationship w ith ourselves. W hat is
lost in that sort o f internal violence
is self.
A s m anagers in business, w e al
low subtle violent environm ents.
W hether it is a sexual harassm ent,
discrim ination, negative attitudes or
even ignoring good ideas to foster
our ow n careers, violence o f this
sort is s e lf lim iting and destructive.
It limits creativity, vision, trust, team
w ork, and ultim ately profits.
M any o f us have w orked in b u si
ness w here voicing a negative atti
tude w as a continual event. H ow
m any o f us d id our very best w ork
there? W ere you excited about go
ing to w ork each day because that
environm ent fostered your highest
creativity and w illingness to partici
p ate?
In m y coaching, I ask clients to
look at th eir external surroundings
as an exp ressio n o f th eir internal
We refuse to believe that there
are insufficient funds in the
great vaults of opportunity
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
of this nation.”
U
5, y
■ ■ ■
In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King
B
Jr., Multnomah County, Metro, the City
of Portland and Port of Portland are
committed to achieving greater economic
and social equity in our contracting and
procurement processes.
1
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<1
For recorded information on
contracting opportunities with
M ultnomah County and Metro,
call the hotline (503) 797-1933.
■ ■;-
Multnomah County
www.multnomah.lib.or.us/purch
Metro
www. metro-region .org
City of Portland
Call the purchasing
Port of Portland
For information on
For information on contracting
For information on
Buyline at
contacting
opportunities, call
contracting opportunities,
(503) 823-6855
opportunities call
Jerry Walker,
call
Jim Waki,
For informantion on
contracting opportunities,
"Faxback" at
(503) 731-7592 or
(503) 797-1714
call Loretta Young,
Judy Trotter,
(503) 823-6850
(503) 731-7587
(503) 248 5429
Ô
M etro
muurnamnH
City of Portland
Creating livable
communities
?/ .
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Port of Portland
Regional Services
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C6
Violence In Business
11
Dr. King was urging us to think
and act globally by saying, “O ur loy
alties must transcend our race, our
class, and our nation; and means we
must develop a world perspective.”
Today, even with the perception o f
unparalleled prosperity as shown on
TV and in our media, human life as Dr.
King envisioned it is threatened by
the mergers, acquisitions, and relent
less growth o f transnational corpora
tions w hich m easure success in
money, not in service to human kind.
The consequence o f this economic
growth are not good for either our
env ironment nor for the betterment o f
human beings as envisioned by Dr.
Kang. A recent study by the United
Nations characterized the world-wide
economic growth as “ruthless , “fu-
tureless”, "rootless” and “voiceless” .
"Ruthless growth” is forcingclose
to 2.4 billion people to live in poverty
while358 individual billionaires enjoy
a combined income equal to these 2.4
billion people.The income gap be
tween rich and poor has grown 100%
over the past 20 years with the richest
20% now receiving over 83% o f the
world’sincome, compared to the poor
Jan. 13, 1999
Martin Luther King Jr. Special Edition
Dr. Martin Luther King And
The “Global Challenge
.
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