By and large, profit does represent societal good, this whole "anti-profit" attitude is misguided. On the other hand, it is often possible to profit unethicall

By and large, profit does represent societal good, this whole "anti-profit" attitude is misguided. On the other hand, it is often possible to profit unethically and sometimes that is the most expedient way. There is a cost to this, which is reputational. That's why it's important to call out bullshit. The problem with research is that the business risk is high so the potential rewards need to be equally high. So there is an argument to be made for large entities (up to and including the state) to fund research, but there need to be checks and balances. The ones we have may not be perfect, but that doesn't mean they're inadequate. It's all just overhead as far as I am concerned.