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> The company exists to make money. The fact that it also creates printers is a side effect, not its primary purpose. And what is astounding is that we, as a s

> The company exists to make money. The fact that it also creates printers is a side effect, not its primary purpose. And what is astounding is that we, as a society, have accepted this backwards rationale. The only reason we should allow companies to exist is to serve the societal interests, and making the money should be the side effect.

drstewart 4y ago
So are you going to be the one that's going to open and run a printer company at a loss for the "societal good", or are you just expecting others to take on that burden?
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago
  Who said anything about a loss? We allow corporations to make a profit as motivation to actually do things, but if the things they are doing are not in the best interests of society then we should dismantle them. The phrasing of your statement is quite illustrative of the problem, I think. We have had it drilled into our heads that society should serve the corporation, which exists only for profit, and that this is natural and good. Which is bullshit. Society is what permits an entity like a corporation to exist in the first place, and we do it because it is (theoretically) in our interest to do so. When it ceases to serve this function it has become a cancer and should be excised from society, but since it is such an effective cancer it has convinced us that we exist for it and not the other way around.
  - drstewart 4y ago
    "Dismantle" "excise" - funny words for unemploying thousands of people because you don't like their approach to selling printer ink. I think we should "excise" cancers that are callous about sweeping societal and economic effects based on their personal whims.
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago
      > "Dismantle" "excise" - funny words for unemploying thousands of people because you don't like their approach to selling printer ink. We put people in prison because we don't like them selling drugs. If that makes sense, so does this. Besides, those people can (theoretically) get other jobs. And if we're really worried about it, then 'excise' in this case can just mean nationalizing the company. To say that we should continue to employ people to make the world worse for the sake of economy is just the broken window fallacy.

drstewart 4y ago

So are you going to be the one that's going to open and run a printer company at a loss for the "societal good", or are you just expecting others to take on that burden?

AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago
Who said anything about a loss? We allow corporations to make a profit as motivation to actually do things, but if the things they are doing are not in the best interests of society then we should dismantle them. The phrasing of your statement is quite illustrative of the problem, I think. We have had it drilled into our heads that society should serve the corporation, which exists only for profit, and that this is natural and good. Which is bullshit. Society is what permits an entity like a corporation to exist in the first place, and we do it because it is (theoretically) in our interest to do so. When it ceases to serve this function it has become a cancer and should be excised from society, but since it is such an effective cancer it has convinced us that we exist for it and not the other way around.
- drstewart 4y ago
  "Dismantle" "excise" - funny words for unemploying thousands of people because you don't like their approach to selling printer ink. I think we should "excise" cancers that are callous about sweeping societal and economic effects based on their personal whims.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago
    > "Dismantle" "excise" - funny words for unemploying thousands of people because you don't like their approach to selling printer ink. We put people in prison because we don't like them selling drugs. If that makes sense, so does this. Besides, those people can (theoretically) get other jobs. And if we're really worried about it, then 'excise' in this case can just mean nationalizing the company. To say that we should continue to employ people to make the world worse for the sake of economy is just the broken window fallacy.