On Thu, Sep 08, 2005 at 09:19:46AM +0100, Simon Waters wrote:
On Thursday 08 Sep 2005 3:09 am, Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu wrote:
And when the corporate executives have a legal and moral obligation to generate income for the stockholders (barring a stockholder's resolution or other similar instrument dictating otherwise), what is one to do when "vast profits" and "vast evil" lie in the same direction?
Moralities aren't black and white, generating profits falls behind other legal and moral obligations that apply to everyone.
Except, they don't in the United States corporations have a legal obligation to put profits above all else. They are legally forbidden to put morality above profit. These laws are severyly in need of some adjustments.
Even Google, with it's "Don't Be Evil" policy
Any influence Google's "Don't be Evil" policy had vanished the day it was floated AFAICT.
Where profits are put before morals that is called greed. Sure the
No, that is following the law.
stockmarkets allow people to put greedy people in charge of their money, but be aware what goes around, comes around.
HG Wells referred to people investing in the stockmarket as a purely financial endevour for short term profits as "the irresponsibly wealthy" as far back as 1902. Plus ça change.
Michael