From: Arlo J. Bensinger (ajb102@psu.edu)
Date: Fri Jul 09 2004 - 22:52:35 BST
Hi Dan,
You wrote:
>
> It's been my experience that most business owners are very responsible
> people and they care deeply about their fellow human beings and the
> environment. There are a few who do not and these few tend to overshadow the
> good that's done by responsible business owners. Such generalizations are
> rarely fair, IMO.
>
I would like to believe you. Indeed, in the case of small, community business I
probably do. And yet the greatest injustices are done by the corporations that
can affect a great number. Think Union Carbide just dumped near Tijuana? Check
the web for information on how much they dumped in India, so much so that
birth-defects are still staggeringly high and common. Do I think any one person
at UC is "evil"? Certainly not. But in a dialogue where "anything can be
justified in the pursuit of maximizing profit", there is no way to criticize UC
for what they did. In Platt's world, UC made an unquestionable and perfectly
legitimate business decision, it disposed of hazardous waste cheaply by
bypassing American regulations. It earned more money. So therefore it was good.
The Tijuanese example, or the others Mark mentions, all perfectly acceptable
business practices. They maximized profit and bypassed pesky social
regulations. Business owners exercised their "individual freedom" to maximize
wealth by tapping into (and maintaining) the poverty of certain areas. Nothing
can be wrong with that.
> invested with him lost their money, and he was left by himself, standing on
> a bridge considering whether or not to jump.
>
> If a business doesn't earn money it will not be a business long. Period. And
> all the good just comes undone.
Many people die without money but feeling good because they "did good" in their
lives. If Fuller was ready to find his life not worth living because he wasn't
earning money, I feel sorry for him.
But that's interesting. If we are to feel sorry for Fuller, who was going to end
his life because he wasn't earning money, how should we feel for the population
of Tijuana? Or don't they count?
Arlo
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