("Clear Thinking in Troubled Times": Winnipeg Free Press,
Nov 21st, 1995)
"People have the right to the truth.
Unvarnished. Even uncomfortable.
But never subjugated to a cause, however noble or
well-meaning.
They have the right to clear thinking.
Slogans, boycotts and protests don't offer answers...
(I)t has been suggested that Shell should pull out of
developing nations altogether.
The oil would certainly continue flowing.
The business would continue operating.
The vast majority of the employees would remain in place.
But the sound and ethical business practices synonymous
with Shell,
the environmental investment,
and the tens of millions of dollars spent on community
programs would all be lost.
Again, it's the people of developing nations that you would
hurt.
It's easy enough to sit in your comfortable homes in the
West,
calling for sanctions and boycotts against a developing
country.
But you have to be sure that knee-jerk reactions won't do
more harm than good.
Some campaigning groups say that we should intervene in the
political process in developing nations.
But even if we could, we must never do so.
Politics is the business of governments and politicians.
The world where companies use their economic influence to
prop up or bring down governments would be a frightening
and bleak one indeed."(ha. ha.)Página 1 / 1