Social Responsibility

The obligation to act for the benefit of those around you, as a concept, is not new. It is, in fact, as old as man (as far as we know). Tribal communities often lived, and still do in some instances, communally, sharing resources and making sure all members of the tribe were looked after. A colloquialism that gets bandied about is “it takes a village to raise a child” and this harks back to this sense of community and social responsibility.


For the purposes of this piece I will keep my observations to what is colloquially termed western civilisation, specifically Australian, American and British societies, as they are three I receive the most information from, and which has been the basis for my study of history in my previous life as a university student.


What does social responsibility look like? The answer is incredibly multifaceted, and it depends hugely on the scale you’re talking about. It can range from the social responsibility any one individual feels, to the social responsibility we impose on multinational companies.


So, let’s break it down.


From a personal perspective, social responsibility is living your life in such a way as to not bring harm to others within your community. This could be not breaking the law, not being rude, being a productive member of society, helping those who may need it, sharing your knowledge and creating an environment in which others can operate without fear or favour.


From a corporate perspective, the responsibilities that any individual might feel is scaled up depending on the size of the business. While an individual may feel a social responsibility to keep the environment clean, the multinational corporations have the influence and money to actually be able to do this on a scale that may be effective.


Today, we tend to outsource our social responsibility. We give to charities rather than help those in need ourselves. While a pooling of resources is a good idea, it removes the personal connection to that responsibility. We also tend to use social responsibility as a mitigating factor to counter something we do that, perhaps, isn’t so great for society. Think about industries which are mass polluters such as coal and gas companies pumping boat loads of carbon into the atmosphere. They might give a portion of their profits to a charity or initiative which cleans up the ocean. The portion of their profits that they give is usually miniscule but still a huge amount more than most people can give, even collectively. They will also use the argument that they are being socially responsible by creating jobs in third world or developing nations, when it could be argued that they are simply exploiting those people for profit as they can pay them less and work them longer.


Social responsibility is leading by example. It is raising your voice to speak for the oppressed. It is valuing your worth and recognising the worth of others, not in a monetary sense, but in a social sense. How can you make your world better? How can you create a society in which people come out the other end a better person that which they entered it?


It might seem too hard a task but there are ways in which we can be socially responsible and in which we can influence others to be socially responsible. You can make a personal decision to be the best person we can be. We can make a personal decision to try not to make the world a worse place for someone else to exist. It’s impossible to get through life without hurting anyone but if we can be aware of our actions, and take responsibility for our actions we can develop a more socially responsible lifestyle.


The funny thing about social responsibility is, it’s contagious (in a good way) and we can purposely spread it. If you find a company that is being socially responsible, talk them up. We live in an age where communication to a wide audience has never been greater. You use your money to support that company over a less responsible company. You tell your friends and family about this company. Maybe they make the swap, so their dollars are going to the more socially responsible company. Then they tell their friends, and so on, until the less socially responsible company starts to see a hit to their bottom dollar. At which point, the less socially responsible company will either continue to lose money or become more socially responsible.


We can also pressure our politicians into making more socially responsible decisions. We can do this directly by voting for those with policies which are socially responsible or, once elected by writing to them and letting them know our feelings. It might not seem like one person can make much of a difference but one drop of water started the Grand Canyon, and the more we come together and use the power of our tribal cohesiveness and fervour to create the change we want the more we will create a world we want to live in.


Oh, now where have I heard that sentiment before? If you automatically said Mahatma Gandhi, based on the quote “Be the change you want to see in the world” then you’d be close but not quite there. This quote does exist but it’s not directly attributable to Gandhi himself. Nonetheless, it’s a terrific way to look at life because social responsibility begins with personal responsibility, whether you’re just making it by or the CEO of a fortune 500 company. So, to pull out another popular quote, go forth and prosper, but in a socially responsible manner.