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> When asked about the future of the business, Hideyuki says he has no intention of doing business (in pursuit of profits) at all. He believes businesses exist
by zelphirkalt 3y ago
> When asked about the future of the business, Hideyuki says he has no intention of doing business (in pursuit of profits) at all. He believes businesses exist to serve society and contribute back to people in the community. That they make profits are merely a side effect and that somewhere along the line the side effect became the main goal.
If only more had his insight.
- b112 3y ago[flagged]
- zelphirkalt 3y agoWay to paint a one-sided picture and make this a socialism VS capitalism debate.
- b112 3y agoYet the comment I responded to, did quite the same, speaking of the statement(anti-profit) as "insight", eg wisdom. But you cannot remove profit as a motivator in a capitalistic society, without finding a viable replacement, for wealth accumulation has directive goals. EG, successful entrepreneurs become focal points, and help direct resource allocation for future endeavors.
- zelphirkalt 3y agoMy comment did not even mention socialism, capitalism and whatnot. And yes, I see it as an insight, when people realize, that life is not about personal profit maximization. And no, that does not equal socialism or capitalism or even anti-capitalism.
- the-dude 3y agoHe said more, not all.
- modernpink 3y agoI, and many economists, would argue that the price signal, profit and "serving society" are more tightly interwound than many like Hideyuki are mislead to believe.
- kizunajp 3y agoIs there anything I can read to understand this better? Naively, I would think making a profit is not strictly necessary to serve society as long as the business makes as much money as it pays out?
- modernpink 3y agoMy favourite explanation comes from Hayek [1]. Profit is a signal for other economic actors to move into the market to provide more goods and services. If something is profitable it means people (society) sees value in it so it is right that we would want more of it to be produced. If we say no to profit, it means we extinguish a mechanism by which society can allocate resources. On top of this, it's impossible for resource allocation for most goods and services to be organised top-down. Knowledge about wants, desires, propensity to manufacture and supply is dispersed and distributed among billions of people (and always in flux). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoTVSsxiwGc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoTVSsxiwGc
- bombcar 3y agoYou have to combine it with the rent-seeking present in rental buildings; the rents will expand to drive out all but the most profitable businesses, which can be detrimental.
- Der_Einzige 3y agoHence why the LVT and Georgism need to be revisited. Even economists agree that a LVT is the only kind of tax that in theory stimulates the economy.
- 3y ago
- smabie 3y agoBusinesses serve whatever the needs of the owner are. If Hideyuki is uninterested in profit, more power to him. However if another business owner only cares about making a (legal) profit, then more power to him.