Moral compass must be set right over sanctions
AS SOMEONE OF British descent, going back centuries, it is easy to look on events of Eastern Europe and point fingers at others, but in reality we all need to look in the mirror. In some cases we need to reflect on comments made in haste which encapsulate the same simplistic thinking that has laid the seeds of this and other conflicts, and for all of us reflect on what values we uphold throughout our personal and business lives that may in fact contribute to a continuation of a cycle of global violence and retribution.
I am very proud of the fact that I live in a jurisdiction where my wife can stand for election and not be judged by her heritage but rather by who she is, what she stands for and what she can achieve, and that she is granted the same respect as any other elected representative of our island. It is important that we all understand that we need to hold back from labelling people of a particular heritage with any generalised attributes, good or bad, because therein lies the roots of hatred, of racism and ultimately of the ‘justifications’ for war.
I am not as proud of some of the business chatter in recent days about how to navigate the current crisis without negatively affecting business, about how to avoid sanctions being a major burden, and occasionally about the opportunities that sanctions afford.
Totalitarian regimes around the world depend on the willingness of counter-parties to look the other way, for a fee. We all have to decide where our moral compass lies in what business we can and cannot do. There are no easy answers, and there will always be an ethical relativism that can be used to justify working for any client but in the offshore world in particular we should all pause and reflect on what our true values are and whether they are fully reflected in the profile of clients that we would deal with.
Before we start criticising entire nationalities, how confident are we all that we do not aid, abet or profit from any regime and its coterie of hangers-on around the world that eschews human rights for all in favour of profit for some?
GEOFF MILLER
St Peter Port