Questioner (Pravin Gordhan): The thing for activists like us is not just observing the system,
it’s about how we continuously strive to change that system, so it serves more people than it currently serves
and the shape of the pyramid begins to change.
So I suppose we’re both activists and there are many others I’m sure in the audience,
who’re trying to create this better world – using different routes, different methods, but with the same aspiration.
Sadhguru: In the last twenty years, I have focused a lot on the business leaders in the world
because those 1200 people, who gather at the Economic Forum, they control almost 80 %of the world’s economy.
If their mind and... minds and hearts changed a bit, things would change.
When in India they introduced what is called as corporate social responsibility, two percent extra tax
of all the people, I benefit from that because our schools, our medical things in the rural areas,
everything gets funded by this so... corporate responsibility, but I said this is not good.
People were shocked (Laughs) that I’m talking against it.
So I told them, “See, the nature of business is such,
we call something a business because it benefits two people.
Any transaction in the world is sustainable only if it benefits both the parties.
Whether it’s marketplace or marriage, this is the fact.
(Laughter) It should benefit both the people.
If you create any model, which does not benefit to both the parties, you cannot sustain it,
you have to constantly give it injections.
So, the only good thing about the market economy is this, that there is competition and competition.
So, whatever the unilateral things that have happened, dominance has happened in certain areas,
I think we must inject serious competition, so that entrepreneurship is all over, that
if you make really good food all over Johannesburg, McDonalds should become empty by itself.
You should not try to close it down. If you try to close it down,
then it becomes a different process that you cannot control.
“When I don’t like you, I will want to close you down,” that will lead to a completely different spiral.
Sadhguru: So, the business leaders, if their way of looking at life changes,
then you can… instead of making a whole lot of money, billions of dollars, and then contributing to some cause,
you can structure your business in such a way that every customer is in some way a partner with you.
So we thought of mooting a fund, where we said...we called this onepercent.com, we started at that time,
the Economic Forum was very active, later on.. a.. because the 2008 recession,
everybody backed out of that. So this is something that I brought in, I said,
“If we can convince all the governments…”– at that time, it was very close, we had spoken to people –
“whatever you spend on your military, one percent of that you contribute to this.
And here, the top-level business brains will sit on it and see how to do business in those societies,
which are impoverished, where proper businesses cannot go and make profit.
Sadhguru: So you give them very soft loans, almost zero percent interest or one percent interest, twenty years.
But you have to do business in that area,
where nobody wants to do business right now because it’s not profitable.
Because money is expensive, they don’t want to do business there,
so very low-cost money you give them, so that they can do business,
so that there’s entrepreneurship all over the place.”
I think that’s the only way to fix it. Is it the best thing?
I don’t think so at all. But is there a better option? I don’t see any.
The best way is, to bring little more consciousness into the business leaders.
The best way is to bring more competition into business
so that competition levels out unfairness of business that is happening.