Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have and should have.
—Anon
Transforming our society is something in which we all have a shared interest. Seeking a society where we can enjoy greater levels of equality is a necessary journey if we are to develop a sustainable economic system. Many will argue that greater equality is a fanciful dream or a threat to our current levels of prosperity. But history teaches us that ideas, which pursue a transformation of the existing situation, have always been met with doubt, concern, and resistance. The development of society has rarely been the result of a government edict or new legislation, rather it has been as a result of small actions taken by individuals who do not hold any form of authority or power. We often forget that it is the victories of the powerless that are most significant in transforming humanity.
In the aftermath of the 2008 credit crunch, and the period of sovereign debt and austerity that has continued to haunt Western society as a result, it seems that the world has been caught napping and we have barely roused from the coma that capitalism has induced upon us. As recovery stutters and splutters with renewed levels of nationalism and retrenchment from free trade and globalization, there are a few lone voices calling into the wind, but no great noise that accompanies a generation that is disturbed by the situation in which they find themselves. What is apparent is that the lack of morality and lack of care that has been building in our society, economy, and political system over the last four decades has created an edifice that is now beginning to crumble. Our feelings toward money and finance have shifted from being a love affair to one of suspicion and hate. Finance and monetary rewards no longer hold the key to satisfaction, and the pursuit of wealth has shown us only gilded prisons that fail to satisfy. We all discuss our frustrations but instead of standing up and being counted each one of us squeaks like a mouse caught in a trap, powerless and without hope. Some of the statistics that are included in this book are remarkable and despite information like this being widely available we continue to create powerful reasons as to why change can’t happen. But what is clear is the majority of the wealth is in the hands of a very small minority, which continues to grow its wealth while the majority find their financial position diminishing. Which also means that the real power for making change happen lies not with the minority who wish to maintain the status quo, but with the majority who need and want the current situation to change. It is essential that society stop its passive acceptance of exploitation from the economic and political forces that currently wield power. Accepting that we have the power to make change happen is the first and most important element of any change movement occurring, today or at any point in the future. Regime change is possible. If the surprise results of the 2016 US Presidential Election and the UK Brexit referendum have taught those who assume they have power, it is that people power is powerful. Changing a capitalist market system in a democratic society isn’t as frightening as changing a dictatorship.
The choice that faces us today is whether we choose to continue to be victims of the system or pursue a new idea, a different way of thinking and begin to struggle and resist against the norm. We have been abandoned by a political system, which has been instrumental in birthing the system of fast capitalism that has been so detrimental to our society. To date we have done little but tinker around the edges, hoping that the fresh lick of paint and a facelift will remove the rot that is at the core of the capitalist system. What this book proposes and the purpose of developing a new ideology is that we need to be inspired to think and act differently, to be able to articulate and demand that society becomes a better place for us to live and work and to develop a vision for what different could look like.
In short, Temperatism requires a market system that functions with a purpose of Doing Good ahead of any priority for profit or private interest. It needs society, government, and the economy to work in partnership to deliver effectiveness as well as efficiency for the betterment of human society. Equality, full employment, a paternalistic state, and environmental protection are all necessary components of a Temperatist society based on principles of Basic Goods and moral, ethical, and values driving an agenda for Doing Good.
Mechanisms for measuring the change toward Doing Good include:
- Innovation aligned to ecological footprint
- Fair trade relations and fair economy
- The addition of a moral dimension to political, social, and economic discourse
- Reconnection of society, mankind, and nature
- The development of environmental and social codes of conduct
- An expansion of the planet, people, and profit agenda
- Long-term time horizons
The Legitimacy of the Capitalist System
Capitalism only works if there is confidence in the system and if we choose to uphold it, the market is a social construction of our own making. If we don’t like it, we have the liberty to change it. History, through the examples of leaders such as Gandhi, teaches us that change can be brought about when we stop cooperating with a system that we disagree with. Lewis et al. (2016) define legitimacy as “conformation to socially constructed, generally accepted social norms and expectations and values.” Changing the world begins with our actions, some people are actively seeking to change the world, challenging socially acceptable goals in a socially unacceptable manner, while others are waiting for change to happen for them. The new generation is making choices about their lives and careers that are a direct reaction to the excesses of muscular entrepreneurialism. Recent studies show that
people in their early twenties . . . don’t want to work for big corporations. They consider face-to-face time with family and friends sacrosanct and many say they get together with friends or family every day. They list their most important job requirements as; finding work that helps others, allows them to impact their world, surrounds them with idealistic and committed co-workers and requires creativity. And nearly three-fourths say that how they spend their time is more important than how much money they make. (Rosenburg 2011)
The next generation wants something different and is willing to make sacrifices in regard to their own self-interest to achieve it. In the business world a new breed of entrepreneurs and business leaders is emerging who are pursuing something other than a profit purpose and discovering that they can still make profit while Doing Good. They are challenging the pragmatic legitimacy promoted by Suchman (1995) of having an economic focus. Risk and reward have become intertwined with an ability to deliver more than just profit, and wealth can be redistributed while still rewarding those who are Doing Good. This, therefore, seeks to fulfill the moral legitimacy (Suchman 1995) regarding societal welfare and what is perceived to be the right thing to do. Kollen (2014) highlights that the societies that an organization is operating in convey with it “a responsibility for maintaining or ameliorating the working and living conditions of the people that live in these societies, especially of those who work for the company.” We must all make a deliberate and conscious decision to drive a new agenda and make the difference that we want to see happen in our own lives. The issue that we all face with capitalism is that we like it if our self-interests are taken care of. Our very own self-interest feeds the system that exploits and robs us and so we become slaves to the system, rather than fighting to be free to be whom we really can be. Our history teaches us that it is possible to raise awkward and unwanted questions regarding the morality of our actions and collectively develop a new paradigm, which abolishes greed and our inhumanity to our fellow man. This causes us to examine our cognitive legitimacy (Suchman 1995) in regard to what we take for granted, the need for moral activism, and engaging in ethical practices. The fact is that many of the inequalities wrought by the capitalist system that existed in Britain at the time of the abolition of slavery movement remain, especially in regard to the ill-fated oppressed workers in the “Satanic Mills” of industrialized Britain. Temperatism urgently urges an unparalleled modern moral movement in championing the abolition of capitalism. Not just because it is right but also because it is necessary to introduce the idea that we need to do right things. This is where business is so important, because they are absolutely central to our society and life, and if they are not operating with a social conscience but rather appealing to the bottom line without regard of the damage being done to people or planet then what hope do we have? The populism of 2016 reinforces the individualism and selfishness of the capitalist consumer. It’s about America First, or having control without thought about the impact that has on the rest of humanity. We all share “spaceship earth” but rather than realizing we are all on the same ship, we act as if we are on separate frigates and are fighting each other for dominance in space. The problem with a civil war upon a self-contained vessel is that wild shooting results in damaging the very existence of everyone on board. When it comes to reputation, corporate wrongdoing once exposed can be very damaging, not just in terms of damages paid in legal wrangling, but a loss of trust that is difficult to recover. Jan De Graaf (2016) highlights that assumptions regarding ethics and corporate social responsibility should not be treated as a separate objective: “Ethics and markets cannot be separated.” They are integrated, and Doing Good supports the wider stakeholder interests and the shareholder interests. Jensen (2001) argues that ethics and personal integrity are critical in the market.
Changing the World
Changing the world requires something that is more meaningful than the self-interest that capitalism drives in us. Human beings are created for a purpose, not just to exist in splendid isolation. Grabbing hold of the truth of our existence may appear fanciful, but ultimately purpose is what guides us and makes us feel happy, fulfilled, and content. Doing Good is not simply about making people equal and achieving harmony. Instead Temperatism, as an ideology, seeks to create meaning in people’s lives; to put purpose at the center of our activity and in providing Basic Goods to ensure that each and every member of the human race is able to achieve fullness of self. The irony being that Temperatism achieves exactly what capitalism says is important. The fulfillment of “self.” But “Self” in Temperatism is an output, cultivated through the activity of Doing Good. Working together individuals can cause change in the behavior of other groups. If banks and organizations find that large groups of their customers and employees no longer accept the status quo and more importantly have changed their behavior to demonstrate that change, then they too will be forced to change their behavior. It is important to remind people and remember that the market is a social construct. It is, by the very fact, a construct, required to bend to the demands of those who take part in it. If demand falls for products and services which are created by organizations that pursue a profit agenda and instead demand increases for products and services delivered by organizations that are Doing Good, guess what? More organizations will begin following a Doing Good agenda. In the 1980s eco-business was the preserve of the loony left and hippies, today it is a central part of shareholder reporting, and big organizations are campaigning for change themselves. Doing Good through business with a social conscience is the only way that societal change can be achieved, as Nair (2016) states:
corporations have become a powerful and dominant institutions. They have reached to every corner of the globe in various sizes, capabilities and influences. Their governance has influenced economies and various aspects of the social landscape . . . [There] is a greater need for accountability.
Whether you are CEO, an entrepreneur, small business owner, manager, or worker, our lives need to mean something, and change comes from the most unexpected places. The very entities that are responsible for so many ills in society are the hope of change at the center of Temperatism. A change in the way organizations run themselves will result in change for good across the globe. However, Blodget et al. (2014) point out that currently there is an “overall lack of positive relationship between ethical aspirations and financial performance,” arguing that “corporate actions are more relevant than CSR statements.” Organizations can’t just say that they believe in Doing Good, they’ve got to Do it too! It is the acts of organizations that will result in both sustainable profits and ethical and altruistic benefits to society as a whole.
Of course it is not always possible to change those who should change, and the fallout of the global recession has demonstrated that despite the anger of both the public and the government, the banking sector has done little to change its behavior. The reason is because the financial sector is holding us to ransom. We need money to flow in order for our economy to remain stable. Individuals can of course make changes in regard to their personal banking, but it is the institutional investors who need to make the biggest changes. The banks were too big to fail because of the social requirement for a functioning finance sector. But unless you are extremely patient and are willing to wait for your great grandchildren to benefit from changes in the economy to take place, it is our generation who need to take the bull by the horns. Waiting for change may be too late for planet earth and time is part of the answer, but also support for alternatives and demonstrating the success of Doing Good will be needed to change the hard hearts of the capitalist diehards.
The Power to Change
One of the biggest resources for driving change that Temperatism has at its disposal is at the center of the ideology, people. Social capital may seem a poor contender when pitted against political or economic capital but there is strength in numbers. You only have to look at history to be heartened by the strength of people power to get change onto the statute book, whether it is the civil rights movement in America, Votes for Women, the Arab Spring, or equal pay in Iceland. Regardless of your income, your education, or your social standing, every person has value in a movement to bring a change for good. Bringing together the voices of one or two academics or writers is not the same as demonstrating with the might of thousands. Social capital doesn’t just come from feet on the street. Strength of voice can come from utilizing the resources at our disposal. Social networks, information, and collective action are all tools that can be used to bring together people—and we are stronger together than we are alone.
Change to our economic system will never happen unless we gather the power at our disposal. Lacking financial capital does not mean that Temperatism lacks the necessary power to build a strategy for change. There is a huge value to community power and social capital that goes beyond any dollar sign or big budget advertising campaign. The election campaign for the Presidency in America may have been fought with a $2bn spending spree, but creating a new identity regarding what makes us human and what the purpose of wealth is, can start in the living room of every home. If we all commit to changing one thing then that is one mighty big change that will happen in society as a whole. Many will recognize the dissatisfaction that they feel with modern life, the loneliness and loss of community is profound, but perhaps most of all, the overwhelming grind that self-interest has generated which is exhausting to maintain. Legitimizing a new approach means delegitimizing what has gone before. It is interesting to note that following Charlottesville in 2017, where it appeared that racists were given permission to voice their vile opinions, the 1-year anniversary was a damp squib because only 20 alt-right protesters turned up. Why? Even with the president’s “good people on both sides” defense, the condemnation and rejection of such behavior was loud and supported by the majority. It doesn’t mean that attitudes have disappeared but it was roundly rejected as legitimate by the community at large, summed up as “this is not who we are.” That’s a powerful sentiment. If Doing Good is who we are, and we reject individualism, wealth creation for wealth’s sake, and the seeming confusion between supporting everyone to be the best they can be and a perverse idea that everyone is on the beg, then maybe, just maybe, change is possible.
The Power Is in Our Hands
It’s very easy to focus on what is going wrong and how awful everything is, just as it is easy on an individual level to focus on what we have got wrong, or what we can’t do. But the power is in our hands to change things. It is consumer spending that accounts for large proportions of gross domestic product, it is the voter who elects government, and we, the people, can have and should be able to influence government policy, our local communities, and the organizations in which we work. Focusing on the reputation of an organization to decide whether it is offering not just the product or service that you want, but contributing to Doing Good is an opportunity to begin a sea change. If economically it makes sense for organizations to have a social conscience, then they will make the changes necessary. On this basis we, the consumers, have the power to drive the agenda. There have been attempts in the past to boycott certain organizations, such as Nestle, over its poor practices, and this has been met with limited success, but rather than choosing not to engage with an organization who doesn’t, it is positively choosing to patronize organizations which do. The laws of competitive advantage mean that if market share and share of wallet is shifting to organizations with a social conscience then organizations will adopt Doing Good policies to compete. It is the simple rules of the market. We live in an age where making positive changes to support organizations with the right approach is made easier through the internet. It might be hard to give up your Amazon Prime addiction because of their poor employment practices and low contribution to society through using tax loopholes. It is equally hard to stop eating Doritos due to their use of palm oil, because let’s be honest, humans are creatures of habit, and we enjoy our favorite treats. No one said that changing the world wouldn’t require sacrifices, but change, even change that is good for the world, is hard.
The Rationality of Not Seeking Change
In the area of organizational development and change management all too often managers are confounded by the fact that the employees resist any form of change, whether the changes are better for the organization, will secure their jobs, and will most probably make the employees’ lives better. Organizations spend thousands of pounds and many hours putting together information packs and communication plans to explain the changes, but no amount of information, no matter how rational, will seemingly move those who chose not to be moved. What is more frustrating is that those who refuse to toe the line and who engage in acts of corporate terrorism will be able to justify their bad behavior with a perfectly rational and logic line of reasoning—even if the rational remains unreasonable. Further investigation will also unveil the truth, which is that the most reluctant will invent fabrications about the real motives of those trying to push for change, even if those reasons are nothing more than a lie to make it all seem justified.
Human behavior, the human mind, and each individual’s personality are nothing if not curious and fascinating. Individuals don’t like to consider themselves as being irrational. We need to deceive ourselves into believing that our, often, destructive behavior is rational. If we are unable to cope with a current situation we may begin to regress, acting out like a petulant teenager, or we might use a displacement defense where we know we have to be strong, so we take out our frustration on a process of change that makes us feel fearful. Finally we might hide from and refuse to acknowledge the change that we are experiencing, by repressing that which we are finding intolerable from our conscious mind and continuing as if nothing has changed at all. We pursue a belief that change is impossible and then put great effort into proving that we were right to have that belief.
In trying to bring about social, political, and economic change, it is important for all of us to consider our culture and how people are acting as a group, not just individually. When individuals are unsure how to behave they will look to the community of which they are a part to understand what the norms are, which are usually driven by their peers. If there is someone who strongly represents the group displaying signs of cognitive dissonance, then that will determine what reaction the group will have as a whole to the change situation. If those who are opinion formers believe Temperatism is nothing more than a utopian dream, then the resistance will grow. But if enough of the human community decided that they want to make the change, then change will shift with the group because no one wants to be rejected.
Individuals who have a lot to lose and in the current hierarchy are in a privileged position will seek to maintain the traditions that keep them in a position of privilege regardless of the expense to others. Destructive behavior in a change situation will always be strongest where individuals who fear change the most are in a position of influence within the wider community. It is expected that the biggest critics of Temperatism will be those who benefit most from the capitalist system. Shareholders, big businesses, and the banks and financial institutions have both the money and power to try and convince us that Temperatism will never work. But then they don’t want to make it work, because they are happy with a situation where the exploited continue in servitude and they allowed to pursue wealth for no other reason than because they can.
Societal Change—One Organization at a Time
Reform is essential, but the reform that is needed must be comprehensive, systemic, simple, and fair. Revolution rarely starts with one action, but is as a result of many things, big and small, all building momentum until the energy of the combined actions develops in such a way that the only option is to move forward. Change sometimes seems to occur instantly, such as the 2018 #MeToo movement, but rarely do big revolutions occur over one small thing. In writing this book, the evidence suggests that this contribution is one of many. Temperatism is not a series of books that stand alone calling into the wilderness hoping that someone will hear a lonely voice. Instead it joins a growing body of work, commentary, and research that all says the same thing—we need to change and we need to change now.
Temperatism will need what Burnes described as a
continuous transformational model of change, which has two important implications. First, there needs to be more democratic participation in the change process since sources of innovation are unpredictable. And, second, the change process must follow a middle-of-the-road perspective between small-scale, incremental changes and large-scale, radical changes because the effects and consequences are also unpredictable. (Luhman and Cunliffe 2013)
We must not wait for government to make the changes that are needed for a fairer society, but we must at an individual, local, community, and organization level begin to act on the areas that require change. Simple but effective actions include changing our suppliers to institutions that have strict ethical investment policies, taking our environmental actions beyond pavement recycling and instead “cooperating” with an eye on sustainability, and demanding representation from our politicians rather than limiting our political participation to election years. Finally, taking responsibility for Doing Good at an organizational level, so that we can in our own small way begin a movement of change that to begin with may seem insignificant but plants the seeds for change to happen, in an office building, in the head office, across the world, in a sector, an industry, and then onward. Being the first to do something new is daunting, similar to being the first to start dancing on an empty dance floor. But once one person starts breaking some moves, others feel more confident to join in. You may be the organization brave enough to step out into an empty space, or you may need a group of Temperatist-minded organizations to join in partnership to make that step; whatever your comfort zone for action, find it, do it, and don’t hold back. Your organization can gain a reputation as the organization that was Doing Good first. Rosa Parks, the lady who refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white person, may not have been intending to be the catalyst behind the civil rights movement in America. It was her action, one small act of demanding to be treated as if she was equal, that changed history. If everyone who reads this book changes their organizational practices toward Doing Good by just 1 percent, one small Temperatist act, then we will have begun breaking ground for Temperatism to become a real movement and not simply an idea written by someone at their kitchen table.