A note from The Lorax: Bigger Isn't Better! | The Business Ethics Blog

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By Lauren | March 21, 2012

When The Lorax movie first opened, I wrote a post questioning the 70-plus product tie-ins associated with the film. At the time, I hadn?t yet seen the movie itself. Now that I have, it?s time to eat a little humble pie. The movie is marvelous, and I was just plain wrong.

Purists don?t like the fact that The Lorax movie sets Dr. Seuss? original story within another tale of a young boy with a crush on a pretty teenaged girl. I?ve read criticisms of the artwork, complaints about the music, wisecracks about the design of some of the characters, unflattering comparisons to Wall-E, you name it. The critics are missing the point. The Lorax presents a compelling picture of why corporations have to be responsible stewards of the environment, delivered in a vivid, high-energy package. It?ll make its point to kids strongly enough that the message may linger into their wage-earning years. Along the way it ought to deliver a critical warning to businesses, too.

We live on a planet with incredible but finite resources. Nearly all of the models used by economists and politicians assume limitless growth to ensure prosperity, and it can?t happen. We?re burning through the Earth?s bounty at lightning speed, especially in the United States. (I?ve seen statistics stating that, if the entire world wanted to live the way we do in the U.S., we?d need ten times the resources the planet can provide. It simply isn?t possible.) It?s time to develop new models that are based on the presumption that our children and grandchildren deserve to inherit a liveable world, and to stop wasting our resources as if they would never run dry. Bigger isn?t better, folks. We need to adjust our definitions of business success from infinite growth to infinite care.

Yes, I know, this is preachy. But before you dismiss it as a valueless rant, take a child and see The Lorax. Watch the last truffula tree fall, then tell me what you think.

Topics: Business Ethics, Social Ethics, corporate responsibility, ethics |

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