Money is power. And power means that even if everyone else is right and you are wrong, with money in your pocket you can still be the only one who is right? Is this right or wrong? This is simple debate and most us would like to say this can not be right and you are always wrong even if you have loads of money.
Welcome to real world where just the opposite happens all the time. Just a recent example of how money power was used by a giant corporation in ensuring passage of standards that even itself is not yet using! Yes Microsoft got the world body of standards the ISO to approve its own version of document standards – OOXML – in teeth of opposition by virtually every right thinking person.
How they were able to do it? Well my conjecture are, and to use the politically correct term, they used their money muscle to LOBBY for their proposal. Smaller banana republics became members of the ISO few months before the vote. Countries were sold dreams of investments that will be poured in or even worse arm twisted with threats of investment withdrawals. I must say that in India the standards body – BIS – went through the whole process very transparently and voted against the proposal on technical grounds. Much to dismay of the industry members who either abstained or voted for the proposal.
Some news now filters that the lobbying efforts are again at high pitch to get India to change its vote and/or force the adoption of defective standards. Many of the individuals who look beyond their immediate narrow interest are coming together to lobby against this by holding vigils as reported in The Hindu here Well the big question is will such vigils get attention of people in power? Will they be heard in the corporate world where mutual back scratching is but natural? History has plenty of evidence that money back power which in turn back money. I am pessimistic about the outcome.
For once I would like to be proven wrong by these young people.