4 ms·

> It’s not that companies are amoral in a negative sense, but that you shouldn’t anthropomorphize them. But companies are run by people. I think it's easier t

> It’s not that companies are amoral in a negative sense, but that you shouldn’t anthropomorphize them. But companies are run by people. I think it's easier to think that companies are more like profit robots to get past our qualms of what we expect of humans, but in the end they are made of and run by humans. So much ink of US history has been used to write about corporate scandals and the profiteering that we just come to expect it -- notably the 2008 recession was caused by pure unadulterated greed on a vast scale. JPMC plead guilty to three felonies and basically got a handslap. Talk about moral hazard! https://www.huffpost.com/entry/time-for-three-strikes-an_b_7596946 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/time-for-three-strikes-an_b_7... PS. You might think that $35B is a large fine, but they have $3T under management. https://www.google.com/search?q=JPMC+assets+under+management&oq=JPMC+assets+under+management&aqs=chrome..69i57l2j69i59.4812j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 https://www.google.com/search?q=JPMC+assets+under+management...

dogma1138 6y ago
People do amoral stuff all the time, even those who claim they have high morals. What most morals are is boils down to what behavior is acceptable and beneficial or to be more exact the set of incentives and repercussions that society enforces. No one can really argue that downloading a movie or a songs is an objectively moral act, however most people can easily justify it as a victimless crime, some even justify it by claiming that the entertainment industry itself is immoral. What you essentially have is people with targets and an incentive structure that is misaligned with what you or society at large consider to be moral. If a business can make a large sum of money by doing something against the rules and the punishment is smaller than the profits it will essentially always lead to “amoral” behavior.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
salawat 6y ago
The thing I find interesting, is that part of what makes up the deterrence of a felony is the loss of representation in the political system, yet, corporations aren't hamstrung by that at all. They don't get a proper vote in the system, yet their lobbyists still get a say when it comes to regulatory proceedings. Until we can actually deprive bad acting companies of the ability to influence the political landscape, nothing is going to stand a significant chance of actually making a misalignment of moral/legal compass hurt.
- dogma1138 6y ago
  This isn’t an issue in every country, I also don’t think that it’s that much of a deterrence.

dogma1138 6y ago

People do amoral stuff all the time, even those who claim they have high morals. What most morals are is boils down to what behavior is acceptable and beneficial or to be more exact the set of incentives and repercussions that society enforces. No one can really argue that downloading a movie or a songs is an objectively moral act, however most people can easily justify it as a victimless crime, some even justify it by claiming that the entertainment industry itself is immoral. What you essentially have is people with targets and an incentive structure that is misaligned with what you or society at large consider to be moral. If a business can make a large sum of money by doing something against the rules and the punishment is smaller than the profits it will essentially always lead to “amoral” behavior.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

salawat 6y ago

The thing I find interesting, is that part of what makes up the deterrence of a felony is the loss of representation in the political system, yet, corporations aren't hamstrung by that at all. They don't get a proper vote in the system, yet their lobbyists still get a say when it comes to regulatory proceedings. Until we can actually deprive bad acting companies of the ability to influence the political landscape, nothing is going to stand a significant chance of actually making a misalignment of moral/legal compass hurt.

dogma1138 6y ago
This isn’t an issue in every country, I also don’t think that it’s that much of a deterrence.