[mft_]

It’s interesting; we’ve lived within capitalism so long, it sounds reasonable for you to (archly) ask “do you not think all companies… should maximise their profits?” - as it that’s a given, and anyone even treading around questioning this fundamental is by default wrong, or forgetful, or crazy. It’s almost as if had moved from being a choice, to an immutable natural law.

But I’m coming to the conclusion —more powerfully in the recent few years— that not only is this an issue that should be debated, but the pursuit of profit above all else is responsible to a greater or lesser degree for many of the ills that we see and suffer in our societies. And from my European perspective, I believe that it is responsible for America (its culture, way of life, the ‘American way’) fracturing and falling apart.

[jen729w]

We just had dinner in our favourite Vietnamese restaurant. It’s closing tomorrow. The rent got too high and the lady who runs it wasn’t taking a wage. It was busy every day. It’s a favourite lunch spot, their bahn mi is the best in town.

So they’ll close, and that’s another empty shop front. God knows if anyone will rent it, ever again. There are plenty more empty shops to choose from.

This is in the centre of Canberra. The capital of Australia.

And why? Because whomever owns the shop owns it as an ‘investment’. So the lovely lady who runs (ran) it needs to not only run a profitable restaurant — pay staff, suppliers, taxes, insurance, take a wage — but she also has to make a profit for the guy who owns the shop.

Because his ‘business’ is owning a shop. So he (I’m sorry, I’m just assuming it’s a dude) needs to turn a profit. For owning a building.

So she’ll close.

---

So restaurants are fucked. They’re all closing. At what point do we think, restaurants are the fabric of society. Cities need restaurants. It’s what makes a city a city. So when do we realise that imposing a condition on a restaurant that not only must they make a profit, but they must make a profit for the owner of the building, who does fucking nothing, is ridiculous?

Anyway. I know this is a rant. I just had dinner at a popular restaurant with amazing food with a wonderful owner that’s closing tomorrow so that the landlord can own an empty space. I’m bitter and sad.

Thanks for listening.

[acureau]

This kind of thing permeates through our society. We can all see it, we all know it's absurd, but we can't change it. That requires the people with the money and power on board. I don't need to tell you how they got that money and power. It's not only the buildings that have owners

[bdowling]

Some restaurants should just be food trucks.

[MrGilbert]

We are on the same page here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39773155

I wonder if more and more people come to the same conclusion, but are not able to voice their opinions loud enough. I also wonder what needs to be done so that the "maximize profit" mantra gets away.

[gtbcb]

Don't get me wrong, unfettered capitalism has plenty of problems - eg tragedy of the commons, regulatory capture, effective monopolies, etc. That said, pricing things to maximize profits (given societal and economic constraints) still seems like the best route, especially in this case. How else could / should they price it?

I think one of the jobs of gov't is good regulation, which is hard. And once the rules have been set, maximizing profits within that box of regulation seems good, yea? Capitalism is reasonably good at allocating resources in many cases.