[geeks] the end of the internet as we know it.

[Shannon Hendrix]

On Aug 5, 2009, at 12:19 , Jonathan Patschke wrote:

> On Tue, 4 Aug 2009, Phil Stracchino wrote:
>
>> I utterly boggle at the things corporate executives will do in the
>> pursuit of a fast buck.  "Today I can afford hookers and blow.   
>> Tomorrow
>> will be somebody else's problem."
>
> Their perceived responsibility is to drive up the stock price, not  
> keep
> the company around forever.

...and a huge part of that is because of how corporations are viewed  
legally.  This sort of thing has been lobbied and drilled into  
people's heads: "It must make money, business has no other purpose."

Anyone with a brain knows that the fundamental purposes of business in  
any form is ultimately to get something done which society needs.   
Profit is secondary, or the system destroys itself.

In fact, when you try to legislate a "right to profit", which is very  
nearly what has been done in corporate laws, banking, etc, you  
completely kill the drive business depends on to succeed and make long- 
term profit.

Business that fulfills no need and exists only to generate profit has  
been drilled into people's heads so much of the last few decades that  
people now believe that's all business means.

I can't think of many things more destructive to the world than an  
idea like that.

-- 
Shannon Hendrix
shannon at widomaker.com