Yesterday I was asked the following question "You must be finding it so difficult to not enter into the political fray." Still, I don't find it particularly difficult, as I have already decided to enter this political fray. I will approach it from a couple of different angles as I will tell the stories through the eyes of the Ukrainian printing industry in interviews we are trying to organize now. But in this article, let's try to look into some controversial yet essential issues relating to our industry!
What is more important is the first question. Money or moral? It can sound like a provocation in itself but think about it. Why are we entering into a commercial relationship with companies in non-democratic countries? We buy oil from Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia - countries that can't pride themselves on democratic values, free speech, and equal rights for men and women, gay people, etc. We need the oil, and we accept all of the above because we have accepted money over morals.
Why do we buy products from China? China isn't democratic, and on top of ongoing human rights violations, environmental standards are considerably lower than in most western countries. Or what about the continuous mass surveillance of the population, spying on foreign companies in China - AND outside China. Why do we accept buying products that compete against our own industries, exploiting cheap labor, and so many things that money vs. moral is a complete joke to discuss. We accept this, and we become more dependent on countries with no standards.
When companies establish themselves (also in our industry) in China, we do it because China is the 2nd largest economy globally, and we want to have a stake in it. But we also establish companies to exploit the highly liberal business conditions in China to make more money selling equipment in the rest of the world. Money or morals?
Russia delivers natural gas to Europe, and damn - we have become dependent on supply from a country where human rights and democracy is almost as much of a joke as the countries mentioned above - and why? Money is the short answer - and yes, I understand that many will say we can't supply the European countries with relatively green energy ourselves fast enough, so that justifies the buy. But does it really justify anything?
Of course not. If the populations were to be asked, most would say no. But politicians and corporates often act on different values. The moral is certainly not part of the equation, and regardless of what companies will say, the Ukrainian situation can't come as a complete surprise. We now face that the European military probably wouldn't defend Ukraine even if we wanted to. And why? Money or moral? Money plays an enormous role, and the world has become global. Computer chips are developed in the US, manufactured in South Korea, based on raw materials from Africa. The supply chains are global, and if you terminate a relationship with a country like China, it would only be effective if all countries decided to do so. So why does China establish businesses in Africa - often under conditions that are worse than worse, money or moral? They, of course, want to secure supply as they have a growing domestic market for all the goods produced in China - which makes China less dependent on the west. Less dependent on democratic countries.
A democratic country could vote no to despots and dictatorships.
So what does this have to do with Ukraine? Not much or a lot. The world is undergoing changes beyond comprehension. We get more and more dependent on each other, but we also become more commercialized. Even relations between humans like you and me have become a commodity. We accept - or do we - that our data is shared used commercially, and all we do is be consumers—part of the Matrix, so to speak. Why do we live? What is the value of what we do? Even culture, music, theaters, films, books have become commercialized to an extent where sometimes the price tag is so high that ordinary people can't access it!
A lot of things have become a question about money vs. moral. When you buy a Chinese-produced Heidelberg offset press, you support the Chinese suppression of people. And if you buy any other press or binding equipment from China, it's, of course, the same, but nobody seems to care much about this. The management at the vendors see China as a legit market to exploit, and the PSPs buying Chinese produced equipment accept the human cost of supporting China. Money vs. moral?
I do also buy products produced in countries like China. My iPhone, my computer, hundreds of components in the things I own, but I have started to look at the Made In xxxxx tag on products to ensure that I minimize. I want to reduce buying and selling to countries like China now and in the future - and it will come at a cost.
First of all, not all can be substituted with products produced in other countries. Secondly, since I have written China enough times in this article, I am most likely already registered in some Chinese databases, not allowing me to enter China in the future. Money vs. Moral?
Supporting Ukraine is a choice, and it will come at a cost. Higher prices on energy, lower return on stocks, more expensive everything, and unfortunately a more insecure world, but we have to boycott Russia - and though I two days ago wrote that vendors in our industry could stop delivering to Russia, nobody actively supported this idea - however, with the exclusion of SWIFT it is now with a considerable risk selling equipment to Russia, as the businesses won't be able to pay!
So what do you choose - not only concerning Russia? Money or Moral?
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