Government exists to safeguard the People, their freedoms, and their common interests. The primary role of government is to defend the People from foreign military threats and criminal elements, but the responsibility of government to the nation and the People includes more than obvious threats to life and liberty. Government is also responsible for creating a stable, prosperous economy that ensures the People have access to affordable, quality, and safe goods. When it comes to the food supply, people are particularly sensitive about the role of government and industry practices, because it is an issue of life and death.
A pending $5.7 billion lawsuit by Beef Products Inc. (BPI) against ABC News over its reporting on “pink slim” demonstrates how serious the food industry is when it comes to reputation. Looking at the potential US-Mexican Sugar Pact and the fight to secure the US sugar supply, sugar producers place a great deal of pressure on government to safeguard their market shares and the viability of their industry. The interests of the industry are not, however, necessarily always those of the US government and the American People. Americans share the long-term interest of maintaining viable industries, but the government’s responsibility of ensuring safety and a secure supply of goods trumps industry interests.
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In the US, fears of undue Russian influence over the Trump Administration and numerous conflicts of interests among Trump Administration officials fuel concerns that the Trump Administration is removing barriers to corruption, instead of “draining the swamp” as Trump pledged to do during the 2017 campaign. With the US Federal government growing increasingly dysfunctional in nature, the US is failing to lead the world in good governance while following the worst examples of bad governance. Brazil’s faltering crackdown on corruption demonstrates the insidious nature of corruption, which provides useful insight to dealing with corruption.
Corruption is a parasite that burrows into government then steadily consumes every public good government undertakes and transforms government into a tool of oppression that steals from the masses to give to the affluent. Once embedded into the culture of government, corruption is nearly impossible to root out, because it attacks those who fight it and corrupts every official channel that it is supposed to combat it. For Brazil, social pressure from outside of government forced back open the official channels that were supposed to guard against corruption. Unfortunately, the success of anti-corruption efforts like “Operation Car Wash” has made it a target under the rule of interim President Michel Temer. CEO’s make 50% of their decisions in less than nine minutes while only 12% of their decisions take over one hour to make according to author and "thought leader" Sheena Iyengar. She also points out that CEOs tend to know only 10% of the story behind the decisions they are making. Given their positions and responsibilities, many of the decisions are likely to have a significant impact on their companies, their subordinates, and their communities. Although Iyengar correctly uses these statistics to call attention to the hazards of procrastination, it is important to recognize engineers, architects, and scientists can take months, or even years, to make decisions, which is why most people would rather drive across a bridge designed by an engineer than one designed by a CEO.
Clearly, the manner in which CEO's make decisions means they are either relying on the expertise of others to compensate for their ignorance or relying on their trained intuition, which exposes them to the hazards of bias and error. Thanks to his entrepreneurial background and reliance on intuition, US President Donald Trump has emphasized the impact of this decision making style in government, where the consequences of bad decisions are far-reaching. With the Trump Administration’s withdrawal from TPP, refusal to reassure NATO allies of US commitments, and the rejection of the Climate Protection Treaty, many are left questioning whether Mr. Trump is offhandedly choosing to lead the US away from global leadership. |
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April 2020
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