From: "Robert G Lewis" 


"Gary Britt"  wrote in message
news:4167fef1{at}w3.nls.net...
>
> "Monte Davis"  wrote in message
> news:vtrfm052rbp66dps43cbjh98q22sdrq01k{at}4ax.com...
>> Richard B.  wrote:
>>
>> And I find myself unhappy with Republicans because they give a free
>> pass to *anything* labeled "defense/national security,"
even when it
>> produces the biggest and dumbest chunk of big government... or "free
>> market," even when that generates enormous social and environmental
>> costs in the pursuit of individual and corporate profit.
>
>
> The pursuit of individual and corporate profits is a GOOD thing, yet you
> use
> it above like it was a bad thing in and of itself.  Its the pursuit of
> individual and corporate profits that creates all the jobs and wealth in
> this country.   I'm not saying there should be no environmental protection
> by the way, just commenting on your use of "pursuit of individual and
> corporate profits" as though that it represents something
"dirty".  The
> pursuit of profit is the noble endeavor of providing for one's family and
> heirs, contributing to society through the creation of jobs and wealth for
> others, and funds all the social programs of both government and private
> charities.  The pursuit of profit, it could be argued, is the highest form
> of contribution to this country in a very real sense.  Employees pursue
> profit.  Unions pursue greater profit for themselves, union executives,
> and
> sometimes even their members.  Unions are some of the biggest corporations
> in this country.

And he mentioned one of the POSSIBLE bad things about pursuit of profit.
The Honest and Ethical pursuit of profit is a very good thing. Con artist
and thieves also pursue profit yet I would not call that a good thing. If
company A makes a huge profit but my heath cost increase due to my being
unable to drink the water or eat the fish is that a good thing ?

There are tradeoffs involved. We don't seem to consider society wide costs
when defining company profit. To me that simply becomes cost shifting. Its
also something that is hard to define, doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

Bob Lewis

>

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