Business perspective affects the poor

As one walks from Ogilvie transportation center, just blocks away from the bustling center of downtown Chicago, one witnesses the heights of wealth and the depths of poverty. At every other corner sits a homeless person, begging for their day’s money. Above one’s head soar skyscapers of dizzying height, and people in suits and ties rush importantly through the corridors between. What might one think when a wealthy businessman strolls past the destitute woman begging for food? “Thank God for business, the poor’s only long-term solution?” Or will a trace of bitterness arise in one’s heart, “if it were not for the oppressive greed of the rich, this woman would be taken care of.”

If your response reflects the latter, you are not alone. It feels righteous to condemn the wealthy on behalf of the poor; to highlight the many faults of the rich and overlook the sins of the homeless. Yet if it is true, if the solution to poverty, locally or globally, is found in business, our perpetuation of negative thoughts about business as an institution harms rather than helps the poor for whom we feel compassion. Our perspectives spread through society until our government reflects our bias against business and limits corporations beyond what’s necessary to discourage corruption.

As realist-minded entrepreneurs with a desire for spiritual, social and environmental impact, we recognize part of our work on behalf of the poor is a battle of mindsets. It’s not only the business person with a thick pocketbook that serves the poor; the struggling entrepreneur whose efforts to add value to his customers change their attitude about business plays his part also, as does the manager who leads her people with a clear vision of the quadruple bottom line till they’re as invested in every quadrant as she is.

William Wilberforce was a wealthy man who did much good. He opened his home to rich and poor, gave generously to many societies, and personally served all men. Yet his greatest achievement was the more than forty year stuggle to end England’s participation in the traffic of slaves. His opponents often represented wealthy slave traders who placed their profitable advantage above human rights. He might have concluded business was fundamentally evil, so greatly did some business people oppose him. Yet (to my knowledge) he did not alienate business as the heart of his opposition, but instead fought mightily against ignorance, against lies, and against indifference. As an aspiring entrepreneur, I too wish to resist the lies and indifference in and outside the business world, and to perform my duty as Wilberforce eloquently writes, “It is the true duty of every man to promote the happiness of his fellow creatures to the utmost of his power (Wilberforce).”

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