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I would agree that this seems to be the case almost always, but should it have to be that way? Why can't public interest be aligned with the profit motive more

I would agree that this seems to be the case almost always, but should it have to be that way? Why can't public interest be aligned with the profit motive more often? To some extent this is already the case, you don't see Dow Chemical grinding up children and selling them as couch stuffing, although sometimes they're not very far from that mark.

dvdhnt 10y ago
Right, I mean that's a separate debate, one that requires a lot of introspection re: capitalism, etc. I'm just answering your previous question; that no, we can't expect them to behave morally. However, to continue with your second comment, we're getting closer to the cause of the symptom. I saw a headline on HN that said "why always outlasts how" and I believe this to be intrinsic. If we should encourage companies to behave in ways more closely aligned with the public interest, fine. Now, how do we do that? So far, it has been done through varying degrees of regulation and the court of public opinion, but those often fail. To answer your question - "Why can't public interest be aligned with the profit motive more often?" - because we lack a better how for the time being.