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Are you unfamiliar with the usage of wrong, as in bad; morally wrong, unhealthy and pernicious? As a matter of fact I did go to college. That does not mean tha
by olefoo 17y ago
Are you unfamiliar with the usage of wrong, as in bad; morally wrong, unhealthy and pernicious?
As a matter of fact I did go to college. That does not mean that I had my conscience removed. It also means that I can debate someone without resort to vituperation.
You said:
"""Again, this is like talking about the myth of gravity after a rock falls on your head. Fiduciary responsibility is the law under which corporations like publishers operate."""
Fiduciary responsibility is considered to be breached when the officers of the corporation place the assets of the corporation at risk by violating the law; is that not so?
Allow me to state a hypothetical, you are the CEO or a board member of a company and one of your direct reports brings you a plan that would involve selling lollypops with a physiologically addictive additive to young children. He presents complete documentation that no one will be harmed unless they stop consuming the product and provides an assurance that an industry consortium can have this additive declared legal before the product is marketed. He also presents projections that make it obvious that this would be the most profitable undertaking the company could do at this time.
So this plan would be legal and profitable.
Would it be morally correct? Obviously not.
Would you do this?
It is in the narrow sense you have described what you must do to fulfill your fiduciary obligations. It is also blatantly unethical.
I look forward to hearing your answer.
- BrentRitterbeck 17y agoFiduciary responsibility is considered to be breached when the officers of the corporation place the assets of the corporation at risk by violating the law; is that not so? The problem with the term "fiduciary responsibility" is that it is a vague term that is ever changing. You don't have to violate the law to breach a fiduciary responsibility. With that said, the extent to which you are responsible for some financial matter is usually determined by the lawyer suing you and the judge overseeing your case.
- olefoo 17y agoI am fully cognizant that fiduciary responsibility is a guiding principle and not rote procedure, the point I am attempting to elucidate for those who throw the term around so freely here. Is that fiduciary responsibility is not a substitute for moral judgment, and too narrow a construal of it leads inevitably to a place where a strict by the numbers construction of what fiduciary responsibility is demands that you take actions that are so wrong that your company should be dissolved since it is actively harmful to society.