To be sure, I’m a staunch defender of wealth creators, and I begrudge no one for his or her riches…as long as he or she doesn’t say silly things like “The focus on profit has caused significant negative, unintended consequences.”
I have two problems with Sir Richard Branson’s commentary. First, it’s wrong. Profits incent wealth creation, which, in turn, improves the environment, because wealthier societies are friendlier to the environment. More importantly, wealthier societies are healthier societies.
Second, having a billionaire say that profits are secondary—after he earned his money—is akin to Sir Branson raising the drawbridge immediately after gaining entry into the castle, while the peasant throngs stand on the other side of the moat.
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You state (simplistically): “Profits incent wealth creation, which, in turn, improves the environment, because wealthier societies are friendlier to the environment. More importantly, wealthier societies are healthier societies.”
This postulate would be correct if the societies that house these profiting businesses could distribute the wealth to all the surrounding population and environment, otherwise that profit is only a benefit for a score of people, which in turn leaves the money and power in the hands of unscrupulous (sometimes) few. I have Carlos Slim in mind.
The idea Branson states, which, out of context is hard to discern clearly, I interpret as: when profits are the only thing that matter, we destroy, not only people’s lives, but the environment too”.
If profits are my only metric, I should make shoes with no concerns regarding water pollution. I can build cars that run 1 mile a gallon, as they will be bought by people who don’t care about the price of gasoline. I can have people working 20 hours a day for a dollar, as profits are King.
This would be an interpretation of Branson’s words from a different perspective.
So anyway, we can have business with profits, sure, but profit can’t be the only metric for a business and its activities, society and governments must keep them sustainable and fair if the business owners do not acknowledge their responsibility to the rest of their fellow humans and non-humans.
Alfred, I could not disagree more. Profits can and should be the only metric for a business and its activities. More importantly, the singular pursuit of profits is a humanitarian motive, because profits best drive innovation, which is the engine of progress. Simply put, the profit motive is the most powerful, most efficient mechanism of social betterment.
Regarding the relationship between profits and pollution, I didn’t assume an anarchic society. A profit seeking company has every incentive to not pollute; otherwise, it risks paying through the nose by harming someone’s property. For some types of pollution, like ambient air pollution, collective action (i.e., multi-jurisdictional regulation) is efficient. But I don’t know what that has to do with “sustainable” business practices.
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