This TED talk by Charmian Gooch really hits at the heart of something that’s been disturbing me recently. Charmian Gooch is co-founder and director of Global Witness and she talks about how easy it is to setup “anonymous” companies that can perform illegal activities or at least activities that are highly morally wrong. It’s extremely difficult to find out who is the actual owner of these anonymous companies and the wrongdoers can “legally” hide behind this anonymity while they destroy peoples lives or the planet.
Openness in Business
Charmian is calling for governments around the world to remove the loopholes and ensure that the owners of businesses can be identified and called to account for what their companies are doing. This can’t be a bad thing and I’d like to support it.
I’m also worried about the more subtle version of the same problem where large companies hide behind their size, and their large advertising departments and cause damage to the people and planet without us even realizing it. Companies must carry a high burden for the welfare of humanity and the planet. And it’s up to us to insist on this.
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