It is a common theme, especially here in the USA with the current class warfare, administration, and move towards socialism that somehow it isn't fair for corporations to make what some say are "obscene profits" and so, perhaps, it's time we addressed all that.
You see, when governments and politicians get in cahoots with big business and bend the laws and regulations in their favor, then we end up practicing crony capitalism, not free market capitalism.
Had those regulations not been put into place, then the free market would have allowed more competitors into the market thus, balancing prices, also profits.
Recently, an overseas acquaintance noted that when corporations make insane profits and people are homeless, lives are destroyed, and the environment is ruined, how can that be considered noble? Still, this is a false argument, because communism and socialism create far more poor people, homeless, and ruined lives.
In fact, at some point those forms of government collapse ruining everyone's lives, or they determine that the people are no longer needed, thus, justify reducing the population, and we all know what that means.
Further, since currently we are not practicing anything close to real free market capitalism, but rather crony capitalism, government puts in regulations to stop competition thus, propping up prices, costs to all, and they have the corporate lobbyists, and often unions telling them too.
Therefore a few people in certain industries get to make money siphoning off a larger share, for producing less, because they are protected.
When it comes to the environment, well, far too many things are done in the name of the environment, which end up supporting the status quo of crony capitalism, lazy unions, and regulations which prevent competition and thus, becomes the opposite of what free-market capitalism is really about.
Then as the economy turns South, the leaders, socialists, unions, who are just as much to blame as the crony capitalists who manipulated the system - blame capitalism.
Crazy, you see there is a big difference between free market capitalism and crony capitalism.
Socialists are very into crony capitalism, yet the blame capitalism for their sins.
I'm not buying their arguments.
My acquaintance, would not give up this debating point and thus, stated that the economic topic was a huge one, but his points of contention do stand, and he asks why we are willing to ruin lived and the planet for a few extra dollars in profit.
This is such a false argument, and typical of socialist leaning academic brainwashing it's almost hard to get across the simplest of concepts, such as is the case with free market capitalism, and further, we shouldn't blame capitalism when such things occur, rather we ought to be calling out the manipulators of free markets.
Please consider all this and think on it.