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Photos from Goa's 2009 mando festival:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/sets/72157622843319441/
Event on Wed, Thurs evening from 5 pm onwards, Kala Academy, Panaji-Goa
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Carmen Miranda wrote:
> you have the right to get shares where ever you like. It is your choice!
> But precisely because it is your choice, and you have chosen to buy shares
> in Vedanta, a company of dubious reputation that is destroying the
> environment and exploiting and ruining the people that live near the mining
> operations and so on, that is your problem.
Carmen,
There are two clear issues here.
The first one is investing.
The primary idea of investing is to use capital to make more capital.
The place where one makes extra-ordinary profits is in jurisdictions where
there are little
or no laws regulating business activity. The prime example of such businesses
are the natural resources extraction industries. These industries, both in the
developed
and less developed worlds, are notorious for operating with little or no regard
to environmental
concerns. It really does not matter if the investor in these companies is one
of the richest
persons on the planet or if it is someone who needs the dividends from the
investment to
supplement his retirement income. The bottom line is that the investor expects
management
to do whatever is necessary to get the best return on his capital.
> You are part of that operation,
> and you have to take responsibility for what is happening to Goa's
> environment. You cannot wash your hands from the crimes against the
> environment and people of Goa.
The second issue is who should be responsible for what is happening to the
environment.
The people responsible for any environment are those who live in the
immediate area or have
vested interests in the area. At the very best, a Govt will pass laws to
prevent environmental
abuse that could cause health problems down the road. These laws in-themselves
are
only the guidelines. More often than not, the govt will not monitor if the laws
are being
adhered to. Mining companies, again both in developing and developed
countries, often
bribe or hoodwink govt officials in order to maximizing profits. That is what
they are all about.
Profits.
As such, the monitoring of laws and the environment is the responsibility of
and has to be done
by those affected or who might be affected by the commercial activity. Don't
fool yourself with
this one. The extracting company will claim to be adhering to the rules. The
Govt will say that
they are.The monitoring HAS to be done by the community and community groups.
It is just
like when you see a crime committed in your neighbourhood. It is your
responsibility and not
that of your neighbour to report the crime to the police.
Here in Canada, the people take their environment seriously. People will form
associations to
monitor the effusion/waste of commercial operations in their area. There is a
price to pay for not
being vigilant. The price often is that of your life, or worse still, that of
your loved ones.
Lastly, huge investment, pension and even sovereign funds are becoming more
socially
responsible by the day. It is not unusual to hear of these funds pulling out
all their investments
from a firm when that firm is being accused of causing or even having the
potential to cause
environmental harm. The trick is to get your voice heard or to get the message
across. Up until
there are 'x' number of people protesting against documented abuse, the abuser
usually gets
away with what he is doing.
> Have you heard of ETHICAL INVESTMENTS?
This is another ball game altogether. I know people who invested the extra
money they had in
companies that are looking for a cure/vaccine for AIDS. 15 years later, that
investment has not
produced any returns. Sure, ethical investments has an appeal and place in
society.
Mervyn1134Lobo
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