Putting a bomb under their reputation
April 7, 2008
How much should legislation be used to dictate moral or ethical decisions? That’s the question that was debated in our household this weekend prompted by an article in the weekend Herald.
In a small article by Tamsyn Parker titled ‘Cluster bombs decision welcomed’, Chairman of New Zealand’s Council for Socially Responsible Investment, Robert Howell, apparently believes crown financial entities such as the Super Fund, ACC and the Earthquake Commission have ‘too much free rein’ regarding which organisations or industries to invest in and calls for ‘much stronger legislative direction in order for the sort of moral investment that would be consistent with New Zealand values’.
Apparently, research by the Council in 2005 revealed all three entities had invested in companies that were unacceptable from a human rights point of view.
Maybe I’m just old fashioned, but to me, unless we’re actually engaged in a combative war, (and even then it would be questionable) why would any company or government body support the production of any kind of bomb, particularly cluster bombs?
The call for stronger legislative direction to make it tougher to do so, particularly for government bodies, had me shaking my head in disbelief. Surely these entities must be able to work out where they stand on the matter from a values and ethics perspective rather than legislation dictating whether they may or may not invest. Perhaps some investors are not as ‘enlightened’ as they might like to think we are and prefer a stick rather than a carrot. Not a good position to be in.
Our debate included who decides what is and what isn’t acceptable and the ramifications of this but the outcome remained the same. Cluster bombs kill. Horribly and extremely painfully. As a New Zealand taxpayer I personally don’t want any of my funds to be used to fund production of any kind of bomb. It’s an issue I’ll have at the forefront of my mind as we move towards the general election later this year. Reputation opens doors or slams them shut. If they are investing in these companies their reputation has just bombed as far as I’m concerned.