4 ms·

This is inherently not the same, though. Sure, companies come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but a company's first and foremost interest is profit for the sh

by lapser 3y ago

This is inherently not the same, though. Sure, companies come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but a company's first and foremost interest is profit for the shareholder. For a person in a relationship, it's about finding a partner that makes them happy. In addition, you are expendable to a company, whereas people build a relationship and become more and more invested over time. Way more than a company becomes invested in an employee.

blagie 3y ago
No, a company's first and foremost interest is not profit for the shareholder. Corporations don't have interests. They're abstractions -- ways of organizing people to be productive members of society. Individuals within those corporations have interests. If you look at a company as if it were a sentient human, you'll get to the wrong conclusions. There is no moral imperative for a company to survive. There's a moral imperative to make sure everyone has gainful, productive employment, healthy levels of stress, etc. If you're at Google, and you can work on: (1) an advertising user-profiling technology with no social benefit but contribution to Google's bottom line (2) a civics-focused open-source project with no benefit to shareholder value, but significant value to society Which would you pick? If you're at Enron pre-scandal, and can either: (1) successfully cover up evidence to prevent the scandal; or (2) blow the whistle Which do you pick? That's where the moral imperative sits. These things are much more complex with a partner. There's a moral imperative not to betray your partner, as well as one to not support immoral actions, and some balance. With corporations, there is no such moral imperative. If an unethically-organized corporation dies, and resources move into ethically-organized ones, the world is better off.

4 ms·

This is inherently not the same, though. Sure, companies come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but a company's first and foremost interest is profit for the sh

by lapser 3y ago

blagie 3y ago
No, a company's first and foremost interest is not profit for the shareholder. Corporations don't have interests. They're abstractions -- ways of organizing people to be productive members of society. Individuals within those corporations have interests. If you look at a company as if it were a sentient human, you'll get to the wrong conclusions. There is no moral imperative for a company to survive. There's a moral imperative to make sure everyone has gainful, productive employment, healthy levels of stress, etc. If you're at Google, and you can work on: (1) an advertising user-profiling technology with no social benefit but contribution to Google's bottom line (2) a civics-focused open-source project with no benefit to shareholder value, but significant value to society Which would you pick? If you're at Enron pre-scandal, and can either: (1) successfully cover up evidence to prevent the scandal; or (2) blow the whistle Which do you pick? That's where the moral imperative sits. These things are much more complex with a partner. There's a moral imperative not to betray your partner, as well as one to not support immoral actions, and some balance. With corporations, there is no such moral imperative. If an unethically-organized corporation dies, and resources move into ethically-organized ones, the world is better off.