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Article

27 Oct 2011

Author:
Jack Ucciferri, Harrington Investments, in Huffington Post [USA]

The People at the Head of the Table Are Talking Past the People Sitting Around the Table

Last week I sat in on a graduate seminar facilitated by…Mary Robinson…Ms. Robinson is excited about the potential of Professor Ruggie's newly unveiled…"UN 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' Framework for Business and Human Rights."…I submit that there is perhaps no better evidence of the bankruptcy of the current system of global governance [than] this implausibly pompous name for such a patently worthless document. I searched the Document…for a few terms…Variations of the word "responsible" appear 14 times in 7 pages…Variations of the word "liable" - 0 times. Variations of the word "accountable" - 0 times…[T]here seemed to be a fundamental disconnect between Robinson's "we're getting there, all together, with corporate buy-in, gradually" approach and the palpable impatience/skepticism of the students. After so many decades of voluntary agreements, non-binding commitment, vapid principles, and meaningless conferences, one can't blame the students for asking "are we going about this all wrong?"