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by switchbak
1352 days ago
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The job of the company is to maximize profit, if that entails serving a need, it will do that, but it's not strictly necessary. Often times it will also push to or past legal limits without any regard to the human cost, in this drive to maximize profit. Monopolies, child labour, environmental catastrophe, suppressing of worker rights and power. To say that we deserve the treatment we get because we're greedy is pretty messed up. I don't know anyone who would choose to poison entire communities so we can have a cooking pan made of Teflon. Hell, Exxon put an anti knock additive (that was banned in the US) into Canadian gas for decades, knowing full well that it caused cancer. Consumer greed doesn't account for the vast majority of the real evil done by large corporations, and I think that's a hell of a redirection of blame that the OP made. |
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It depends on what you mean by "real evil" here. But the mistake that's being made here is focusing on something like worker rights suppression when those same workers are buying F-150s for their day-to-day commute. I criticize both, however. I see many here who only criticize the former. That's a problem because we can't get to a full solution and we are also taking away agency from people to make choices.
At the end of the day the responsibility always rests on the people because corporations and the government exist and operate at the behest of the people. That doesn't absolve either entity of wrongdoing, of course, but so long as people continue to demand the lifestyle we all currently live businesses will naturally continue to create and sell the demanded products. Thinking that this wouldn't or shouldn't be the case in a market economy is too ideological and doesn't help us address pragmatic needs. Will you pay $25 for a pint of blueberries, travel by bus if you want to visit California from Florida, and only own one car per household? The vast majority of Americans at least would outright reject this, yet that's the reality we must face.
In some cases corporations actually lead the way as well. Paper straws and no longer providing plastic bags are areas where corporations have taken action in spite of consumer demand for plastic straws and plastic bags. I don't know how "real evil done by large corporations" is more impactful than tens of millions of Americans demanding our current lifestyle. There is certainly gray area here, but the discussion window is far, far too close to only talking about corporations.