When is it moral to make a profit?

[BrentWil]

We all talk about greed as a negative aspect of the capitalist system. Certainly we can all point to people and companies putting profits over morality. That begs the question, when is it moral to make a profit? What type of framework should be used to evaluate the morality of a person or business the makes money for themselves or investors?

[RKP5637]

1. Honesty, Fairness and Integrity IMO. n/t

[AnArmyVeteran]

2. Any profits made at the expense of others.

When profits are made by harming or exploiting others is immoral. That includes people who use or manipulate any other human to increase their wealth. Places like Wall Street and corporate boardrooms are cesspools filled with soulless people who will do anything for a profit, with zero regard to the harm they do to others.

[TBF]

10. Also -

Not only the people being harmed/exploited (worldwide), but also the resources that are being pillaged to make said profit (and all the resulting devastation that ensues from that). Capitalism kills - in so many ways.

[AnArmyVeteran]

13. Absolutely. Middle eastern people live in total poverty over trillions in oil wealth.

All the money goes to a handful of criminal leaders and the US has supported those leaders for almost a century. And people wonder why Muslims hate the US and a lot of them strike against us in the form of terrorism. Terrorists could never perform an act of terrorism that could equal the decades of oppression and poverty caused largely because of US actions.

Reagan supported Saddam Hussein even when Reagan knew Saddam practiced genocide against his own people. In fact, Hussein was charged and hung for atrocities committed in 1982 when Reagan was Hussein's good buddy. Remember the pictures of Rumsfeld chumming it up with a known sociopathic tyrant?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. When it doesn't fuck people over. -nt

[dkf]

4. Is charging interest moral?

Is not taking a homeless person in moral? Is taking from one person to give to another moral? Is owning land moral? Is having some migrant worker working in unbearable conditions that few Americans would tolerate to provide us food moral?

If the criteria is morality pretty much every aspect of our lives is immoral.

[KansDem]

5. As long as you don't lie, steal, or murder...

And for all you religious types, that's Commandments Nos. 6, 8, and 9.

I doubt if there are very many financial empires created without violating one or all of these...

[petronius]

6. I doubt there's a universally applicable answer (or if there is, it takes

a PhD in philosophy to formulate it), but my off-the-cuff answer is "when the people you garnered the profit from agree that you've earned it."

[Rex]

7. Oh geez, what a question.

I would say it is moral to make a profit when all your workers are happy and living the good life. When people actually LIKE to get up and go to their job, because their boss cares about them and doesn't treat them like flow chart statistics. If you run a huge company sure you will never know the thousands that work 'for you', but making sure they are well taken care of CAN be done and should.

HAPPY workers are more productive workers.

HAPPY workers bring innovation to the workplace.

HAPPY workers can't wait to get to work!

Supply them with health benefits and a good pension that works toward their retirement, that is if they ever want to quit a job they love.

It is so easy, a child could do it.

[JHB]

8. When you actually earn it...

If one makes money by something you do, create, or make, I don't think most people have a problem with that.

It's when one makes money -- lots of money -- by finagling, shuffling, or squeezing that most of the damage is done.

[Odin2005]

9. When it goes to sustaining your own livlihood and is not theft from workers.

A small business owner can have a profit just fine as long as they work their butt off themself and pay their employees fairly. profit from stock investments is immoral, however.

[Lucian]

11. When you're willing to walk all over everything and everybody to make money...

that's immoral.

The right thing to do is pay your employees livable and fair wages, practice environmental sustainability, etc.

[spanone]

12. we make a profit every hour we work...are we all immoral ?

our system is capitalistic....

[SoCalDem]

14. It all comes down to want v need

EVERY greedy corporate master has waaaaaay more than he or his extended family could ever spend in a lifetime, yet they always WANT more.

In a very short time, we have gone from the many having "enough", to the few having MOST of it.. "It", being the wealth of our nation.

There was another time when this was the case, but we had strong presidents who stood up to the greed and forced laws onto the books & who enforced those laws.

The hiccup post WWII lulled us all into a false sense of security, and the greedy bastards returned with a vengeance..


Who will stand up to them now? How? When?

Before the 1980's union jobs were still around, and most companies stood the test of time, with longterm employees & pensions. Once the era of corporate raider & merger-maniacs came along, most of that went away..along with the pensions & job security. What left is a hollowed-out shell.

[w8liftinglady]

15. if it does not involve child/slave labor

http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/PDF/2009TVPRA.pdf

[BrentWil]

16. What about farming?

Many farmers still depend on kids to do alot of the work. Mainly local farmers.

[w8liftinglady]

17. many of the countries/corporations listed use children to pick crops

If the job prevents a child from going to school,then it has violated that child's human rights...a no-no in my book.an 8 year-old spending 50 hours/week picking coffee is immoral.
An eight year-old helping grandpa farm after school and on the weekends...ok.

[kentuck]

18. It would be most moral if you can create and sell something....

that helps people.

However, I would not judge those that only make hula hoops... and makes a fortune.

[bemildred]

19. When you don't violate any moral or ethical precepts in the process.

Morality and profitability are not dependent on each other.

[Motown_Johnny]

20. when the product or service is as described by the provider

and is sold at a reasonable price (without price gouging)