I think you'll find that GBK and Byrons are also only about profit
It's called being a business
(, Wed 20 Jun 2012, 9:53, Reply)
You are implying that
Business is evil to the same degree. This isn't the case. A profitable business model does not have to exclude worker, local economic & planetary welfare.
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zacherynuk @echo off, Wed 20 Jun 2012, 10:04,
Reply)
it doesn't have to
but the more profitable business does. If it is actually more profitable to include worker, local and planetary welfare, that's what all businesses would have, and still would be, doing. But they don't, and business doesn't care, that's not it's purpose, the purpose of business is to generate profit.
(, Wed 20 Jun 2012, 10:13, Reply)
Depends on your mind set
Many believe the purpose of business is to provide stability & improve the socioeconomic status of those affected by the business. In general terms ones, socioeconomicness is only, at best one quarter defined by 'wealth'.
There are also those who believe that you shouldn't use a business' 'independent entity' status as an excuse for dropping ethics or a means for carrying out morally questionable actions.
Of course, if the only way to obtain investment for a business idea is to offer nothing but wealth in return, hence receiving backing from those who wish only wealth, then the entire business will be reliant on creating profits to maintain backing; this could (and often does) mean that the ideals of the business will quickly become undermined as fundamentals are gnawed away at in order to provide the profits.
There are plenty of businesses which don't require such capitalist backing and so don't have to comply with a blind thirst for cash.
Some people prefer wealth over all else, some people like to think (and hope) that their investments and purchases do not contribute to the bad things on the planet.
There are plenty of ethical investment firms (even the co-op) and also ethical shopping options (and portals); the fact that these exist, even during the current climate, suggest that many people do have values which are not limited to the collection and hoarding of money.
You can't take money with you, and your kids and grand kids may appreciate more than just cash left behind.
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zacherynuk @echo off, Wed 20 Jun 2012, 10:36,
Reply)
on your mind set, or whether you are actually in business
many people do, as you say, believe in purposes of business other than profit. But, in general, these people are not in business, or not a successful one anyway (at least as defined by the making of profit, without which it is almost impossible to stay in business).
What are the 'ideals' of a business? Can a business even have 'ideals'? I don't think so. People can, and the people involved in the business can, but the business itself cannot, anymore than a lightswitch can be melancholy or a potato peeler feel unloved.
I don't know of any way that a business can be established or run without capital investment, even if, in some way, the capital investment is repaid in other non-monetary ways. It's not so much that the ideals of a business become undermined, rather that the business had no ideals in the first place, only the people involved in the business find that it's actions do not agree with their personal values.
I think it's misleading to say that plenty of businesses don't require capital backing, when in truth it is a tiny minority that do not. Again, with ethical investment firms, they form a tiny minority or investment firms, and do not and cannot match the returns offered by the overwhelming majority of investment options not constrained by personal values or ethics. Speaking as someone with a financial investments background, with experience of ethical funds, you'd be surprised what they can and do actually invest in (tobacco, arms, etc.) when the investment is at a remove (for instance, and ethical fund purchasing units in another fund, which itself holds investments in further funds, that themselves hold shares in unethical companies).
A business is not a person, and corporate personhood should, in my opinion, be unnattainable. The consequences of that would be dire for us all, but the idea that a business can have ethics and values is the first step on that road.
(, Wed 20 Jun 2012, 11:08, Reply)
Well.
'Business' is a wide term, I think neither of use will be happy whilst we try and snapshot everything from sole traders through publicly traded enterprises...
Hopefully a balance will be struck: I think if we are going continue heading down the Ferengi route; we should at least start ensuring our women are naked.
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zacherynuk @echo off, Wed 20 Jun 2012, 11:52,
Reply)