The thing about capitalism is that those companies that exist solely for the purpose of making profit and as much profit as they can make, need to have some guardrails imposed upon them because of their inherent obligation to be good corporate citizens to the governance that has permitted their existence. Indeed, there needs to be robust government oversight that imposes itself upon these corporations so that they understand that their responsibility and obligation to society encompasses far more than profit.
When it comes to money, the making of money and the lure of money, it has to be acknowledged that money is so important to so many people and organizations, that to obtain that money creates a dangerous temptation for many people and corporations in which the desire to get that money, clouds their vision to such an extent that they will do whatever that they have to do to obtain it, because the value of money and what money can do for them, is so important that it has a tendency to corrupt the minds of people as well as the ethics of business enterprises.
When we take into account that most companies compete against other companies, we recognize that the cost of labor, the cost of conforming to environmental laws, the cost of paying appropriate taxes, and so on, makes a material difference in the profitability of that enterprise. No doubt, that there is many a business that cares only that the expected profit numbers are reached or exceeded, and cares not so much how that is obtained, which means that ethics, laws, and fairness be damned, which is the reason why businesses need to be held accountable to laws structured to keep them in line, and when these are violated, stiff monetary fines must be considered, as well as jail time for those that have crossed the line into criminality.
So too, when it is all about profit, those that are employed, are typically going to be in a rather poor negotiating position whenever they don’t have union representation, or its equivalency, because the threat of not being hired, or of being fired, serves to keep employees in their place, and thereby this is the main reason why labor is underpaid and exploited. At the same time, those in upper management often receive far too much in compensation, in which they get the lion’s share of profit, benefits, bonuses, accouterments, status, and more.
When it comes to corporations, it is well to understand that corporations are artificial constructs of the state, which signifies that the state has a vested interest in seeing that corporations do their fair part to provide a living wage, stable employment, and to pay their fair share in taxation, as contrasted to deliberately trying to avert these very things. Indeed, those corporations that don’t do right by the citizenry of this nation are the very same that should be seen for what they are: greedy, unethical, and an anathema to what this nation stands proudly for.