Translator: Rebecca Mynett Reviewer: Denise RQ
So, first I would like to wish all the ladies a happy Women's Day
because today is International Women's Day.
You know that it was
Jean-Marc Reiser who said,
"Women who want to be equal to men
are seriously lacking in ambition."
So I have been a lawyer since the dawn of time,
a tax lawyer, a business lawyer,
and eight years ago, when my clients phoned
to say, "I've got this or that problem,"
I wanted to say "I don't care."
I said to myself, perhaps it was a sign that I should change something in my life
because I think when you are no longer enthusiastic
it is clearly a sign that you need to change something in your life.
Of course, you know where the word "enthusiasm" comes from.
It comes from the Greek "enthousiasmos"
which literally means "in the breath of the divine".
Obviously that is not religious,
you could say that it is the breath of transcendence.
It is true that, sometimes, I practice tax law
in a way that is a little bit unusual,
because I remember that 25 years ago, a lawyer phoned me saying,
"Luc, I've got a big problem,
a very rich client is being horribly blackmailed by his daughter
who has also stolen a lot of money from him, etc."
I said to her, "OK, bring your client to see me."
So this very upset 80-year-old man came,
"Sir, we must arrange everything in Liechtenstein
in the Caymans, in Luxembourg,
my daughter is going to steal it all, she is blackmailing me," etc.
I let him go on like a crazy horse at full gallop,
and I didn't interrupt him again for ten minutes.
After ten minutes, I calmly interrupted him,
and in his head, he had come to see a tax lawyer,
and I said, "Sir, do you not think
that all the money your daughter is stealing from you
is nothing more than a symbol of the love
that you have never given her?"
His lawyer was shocked,
the client didn't hear me and carried straight on,
"Tally-ho, tally-ho! Liechtenstein! Cayman!", etc.
And I let him continue, and I didn't interrupt him again.
And after quarter of an hour he stopped, and he said,
"All the same, Sir,
what you said to me just now strikes a chord.
I realized that I've never given my daughter a second glance.
I was always away on business, I looked after my business," etc.
And on leaving my office, this client had a wonderful impulse:
he phoned his daughter and invited her to dinner that evening,
and he apologized to her for all the harm he had done her.
This man never again suffered from the least bit of blackmail or theft.
And so, for several years now, I have given a course in business law
in a Business School in Brussels.
And I like to tell the story of the stonemason,
which you no doubt know, but just in case there is someone who doesn't,
I will tell it all the same.
It is the story of a man who passed a Cathedral,
and he saw three workmen busy dressing stones.
He asked the first, "What are you doing?"
"Me, Sir, as you can see, I'm busy dressing a stone.
It's a terrible job, you don't earn much money, it's dreadful," etc.
Then he passed the second man who was a little less sulky,
and who said, "I'm dressing a stone.
I also dress stones, but actually it's quite good.
I'm in the fresh air, and I make a living and can feed my children."
The third man was doing the same as the others.
He asked what he was doing,
"Sir, you can see I'm busy building a cathedral!"
And he was very happy.
So I explained to my students
here are three workmen doing exactly the same thing.
However, the question is not what they are doing,
but in what state of mind they are doing it.
I said, "You, for example,
why do you want to be a sales engineer or to get a degree in consular studies?"
They think I'm a bit crazy
because I'm giving a class in business law,
and I hear from the back of the class "For the dough!"
I say, "OK, let's talk about that a bit, what does money mean to you?"
You know, you might think that money is an inert substance
that you will try to get as much as possible of to soothe your worries.
What worries?
Well, firstly the worry about the finite nature of your life,
because you know, money is a number and by definition, numbers are infinite.
So to ward off your worries about the finite nature of your life,
you may be tempted to accumulate as much money as possible.
"However," I say, "Think of money as energy."
A beautiful energy if you do beautiful things
for or with money, a repulsive energy if you do repulsive things for or with it.
So now I am on sabbatical,
and so I have created this association called
the League of Optimists of the Kingdom of Belgium
- it's a bit surrealist - it's a bit Belgian.
But, the idea behind it is to create,
I would say with a bit of lightheartedness
an idea that is more serious than it seems.
What is this idea?
I'll try to... Ah, there...
The idea is to say, "I am the master of my thoughts and not the opposite."
If I am master of my thoughts,
undoubtedly... - oh never mind
if I am the master of my thoughts, I am a responsible person.
If I have this responsibility, I am responsible for my life,
for my environment and for the world.
So the idea behind it is to say that optimism
is not an innate ability to be happy
which will liberate us from all painful problems
and great sorrows of our lives.
Optimism stems from a decision and discipline,
and it also forms the basis of each person's responsibilities.
That is to say that if we want the world to be a better place,
everyone is going to have to get involved
and I think that is the fundamental idea.
So you know, we have, I want to say we have heard a lot today,
people talk a lot about the crisis.
This crisis is of course a difficult and painful economic crisis,
but it is probably and may still be a crisis of meaning.
This is to say that we have successfully learnt how to make things.
The technological advances of the last few years have been rapid
in the areas of IT, of technology, etc.
But the problem is that we no longer know why.
And that is the question of meaning.
So, I have created this association,
the League of Optimists of the Kingdom of Belgium,
which now has 5,000 members in Belgium.
We have created large and small sister organizations
notably in the Netherlands, Germany, in your country, France,
but notably with France Roque, Philippe Gabilliet, Jean d'Ormesson, Erik Orsenna,
Matthieu Ricard, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, and Jean-Michel Guenassia.
In Switzerland, Monaco, and Benin,
we are busy at the moment, and also in Spain,
we are now busy with Norway, Canada,
Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, and a dozen countries in Africa.
So we have formed an international organization
which is called Optimists Without Borders,
moreover, whose current president is French.
The idea is that every two years the Presidency will change,
and all that will constitute the concept of Optimistan.
So, what is Optimistan?
Optimistan is a metaphorical State, a poetic state,
it is a new state of conscience
according to this quote by Teilhard de Chardin,
"As the world becomes more complex,
so its level of consciousness must be raised."
So the idea that we have come up with
is to say, "Let us create together a new state of conscience,"
and furthermore, all citizens of Optimistan,
that is to say all members of all the Associations of Optimists,
will soon receive, a real Optimistan Passport
will a QR code that will enable us to contact each of them.
But for me, optimism is not just the opposite of pessimism.
I think that it is even more the opposite of cynicism.
Cynicism is an absolute plague,
and I truly think that today
the world is developing in an extremely cynical fashion.
Financial capitalism has become absolutely cynical.
And I think that the world we have constructed here in the West,
this world of money, must be destroyed.
I think, in fact, that it will die of its cynicism
in the same way that communism died of its cynicism,
if it does not change, and soon, towards more fraternity.
So I think that at heart, optimism is also this realization
that we are all linked together and that we are also linked to the planet.
And so I think that the idea is still to revitalize life
to stop us from becoming like vermin on the planet.
So, what I want to do myself is, at least, take part in a small way,
in the re-enchantment of the world.
That seems to me to be an absolutely fundamental task.
I think that, if you like, we have today...
we have well understood how to do things, but now, we must remind ourselves of it.
For example, we also have a big project,
to create a school for shareholders:
the Optimistan Share Holder School.
Why an Optimistan Share Holder School?
Well because, you know, a long time ago people told me
that I absolutely should create an Optimistan Business School.
I have a problem with Business Schools
which teach that the goal of business is to make a profit.
I think that that is once again a manifestation of cynicism.
I think that the goal of business is not profit.
The goal of business is doing the right thing
for humanity and for the world,
and that profit must be the necessary consequence of business.
Obviously profit is absolutely necessary
but it is in fact there to ensure the survival of the business,
but it cannot be the goal.
And so, what I would like is to talk, in a manner of speaking,
to those people who truly have the power to take decisions.
Because unfortunately, I have noticed that many managers behave
I would say, like true mercenaries
and who become more and more greedy.
And, quite frankly, I can no longer stand listening to shareholders saying,
"Yes, but we provide jobs for the workers."
I have never heard a worker say,
"Yes, but I provide a dividend for my shareholders."
So, I say no, it is not the shareholders
who give jobs to the workers or employees.
It is businesses who give
the proceeds of work to one group and the proceeds of shares to the other.
It is not one group that creates work and another that creates wealth.
It is a whole.
And so I think that we must reflect, really...
we must rethink, I would say
the fundamental question of business conscience.
Because there is a lot of talk, about business culture,
but not much about business conscience.
However, I think that it is absolutely necessary to think about it.
So, I truly believe that financial capitalism today
as it is, as it changes,
well, it can do nothing more for humankind
and, in my opinion, we live
in what is still one of the most prosperous part of the planet,
and well, I say that we have invented this financial capitalism,
we must think here, we have,
I would say an urgent responsibility to invent a new model of society
which would work if it were applied to the whole world.
I really like this quote from Immanuel Kant, who said,
"We should act in such a way the world order would not be disturbed
if everyone acted as we act."
However, the situation is such that if the whole world started to live
according to the model of overproduction and over-consumption
of goods which add little happiness which we have invented here,
well, life on Earth would no longer be possible for our children.
The question I ask is is that what we want?
I don't. And if I don't want that,
I think that parents in Congo, New York, Argentina, Japan,
also have the right to want
life to still be possible for their children.
So, I think that we who have, who live on this part of the planet
who have an educated population, where, I would say,
poverty is still under control... perhaps...
Well, I say that we also have the responsibility to invent a new model.
There, that my proposal.
So, a new state of conscience, and I think that if we regroup,
if everyone works together,
we can really bring forth a new way of living together
which, in my opinion, will be much happier,
which, inevitably, will be a little bit--
will free up lots of energy, and there you have my proposal.
The League of Optimists in Belgium
has organized lots of conferences
and after each conference, there is always a little reception
and so I know I'm about to be interrupted,
you have been very patient up to now,
you have been very good, it is very, very good,
well, in fact, what I ask every time is that everyone who attends the reception
should not leave until they have spoken to three people
that they did not know before.
So thank you.
(Applause)