Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise

Nick Nichols, senior fellow
Make the Enemy Live Up to
Their Own Book of Rules - By Law

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Transparency for the Activist Opaque?
Let's Legislate it to Make Sure

I spent June 6th listening to the background noise of various radio and television pundits pontificating about the Book of Revelation’s reference to the number “666” and whether this once-in-a-century convergence of sixes in the calendar might portend something onerous or downright satanic. There were news items about expectant mothers postponing deliveries, high schools beefing up security in response to triple-six threats, and reports of satanic vandalism at a number of seminaries, monasteries and churches. True to form, the Internet hummed with apocalyptic conspiracy theories and Hollywood buzzed about Twentieth Century Fox’s new version of The Omen.

As someone who tends to put more faith in science than the scare of the week, I deposited all of the doomsday reports into a mental file labeled “hogwash” and continued to work on a syllabus for a course I am scheduled to teach in the fall. Then it happened. A Google Alert popped up in my email inbox. The headline wasn’t satanic, but it certainly was an unexpected revelation: “Greenpeace, Amnesty, Oxfam Sign Code of Conduct.”

I must admit that when I read the headline it crossed my mind that maybe there was something to this triple-six business. I always thought that it would be a cold day in Hell before the activists held themselves to the same standards of conduct that they have been seeking to impose on corporations through their constant harangue about Corporate Social Responsibility.

The activists call it an “Accountability Charter” and it turns out that eleven of the world’s largest non-government organizations (NGOs) signed the document claiming that, “we seek to promote the values of transparency and accountability that we stand for . . . .”  I found a copy of the Charter in the news section of Amnesty International’s website (www.amnesty.org). It is well-worth reading if you happen to be the target of one of the signatories. 

Why? Take a cue from a different kind of testament. The one used by activists across the globe—Rules for Radicals. It was written by the reputed godfather of the American activist movement, the late Saul D. Alinsky. Rules for Radicals (1971) provides activists with strategies and tactics that have proven extremely effective against business targets over the past several decades. Alinsky’s fourth rule of power tactics is:  “Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.” What is my point? This so-called “Accountability Charter” represents a first-ever book of rules for the international activist movement. Let’s hold them to it!

There are several provisions in the Charter that jump from the page. For example, the NGO signatories promise that they will:

  • “Adhere to generally-accepted standards of technical accuracy and honesty in presenting and interpreting data and research, using and referencing independent research.”
  • Publish annual financial reports that “will conform to relevant laws and practices and be audited by a qualified independent public accountant whose statement will accompany the report.”
  • “Be both politically and financially independent.  Our governance, programs and policies will be non-partisan, independent of specific governments, political parties and the business sector.”
  • “Be responsible in our criticisms of individuals and organizations, ensuring such criticism amounts to fair public comment.”
  • “Take all possible steps to ensure that there are no links with organizations, or persons involved in illegal or unethical practices.”
  • “Specifically prohibit acts of bribery or corruption by staff or other persons working for, or on behalf of, the organization.”

Considering the past behavior of groups like Greenpeace, my initial reaction to the commitments enshrined in the Accountability Charter can best be described by actor Christopher Walken’s famous one-liner in The Rundown: “Wow!” 

Anyone who has been on the receiving end of a public attack by the likes of Greenpeace must wonder what in the world these NGOs were thinking when they signed this Charter? As a founding member of the heretofore secret society, Cynicism Yields Answers (CYA), I would suggest that the Accountability Charter is not the byproduct of altruism or some hallucinogenic experience, but the other kind of CYA; a literary slight-of-hand by the international activists seeking to preempt efforts by various governments to regulate their behavior, and to impose serious standards of accountability and transparency on their organizations.

Whatever the motivation, the bottom line is that the groups that signed the Charter have now publicly proclaimed their pure intentions. They want us to believe that they, too, are socially responsible. The next time any of them skirt the law, slander their targets, exploit junk science, or engage in partisan political activity, throw the Charter at the offender and demand the same degree of public humiliation and sanctions that they often seek to apply to their corporate targets. In others words, “make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.”

With over three decades in the communications business, Nick Nichols specializes in crisis management and risk communications.

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