VALUES



I was saddened while listening to a piece on my local public radio station this morning. It wasn't presented as a sob story, like some of their more sentimental pieces. It was about a young Harvard graduate working in venture capital.

 

His venture capital firm is thinking of dabbling in nail parlors, currently regarded as possible fronts for drug distribution and prostitution, associated with human trafficking. They are thinking of turning the nail parlor "industry" into a chain business , like Starbucks.

 

I cannot think of a better example of how corporate capitalism is bringing down the human species. Intelligent human beings with privileged educations and money are focusing on nail parlors. Why? Because they are driven by profits without a greater vision of where those profits come from or what those profits contribute to the greater world.

 

Manicures will not save the planet. Pedicures will not solve the life-threatening problems of climate change and overpopulation. Corporate capitalism, centered in New York and London, has lost all sense of proportion and values.