Then yes, we damn well better demand that profit be the correct goal for every action regardless of organizational structure.

If our system is distorted to inaccurately measure profit locally, without properly accounting for negative externalities, then that's a legitimate problem, but the way to solve it is by factoring those hidden costs back into the profit calculation, not giving up on "profitability" properly defined.

  > ... government can have another motive be primary 
  > rather than profit, i.e. help it citizens as the 
  > primary goal.

Profits are still required for gov't spending, but they are just made by someone else in the country and transferred to the gov't via taxation. Even deficit spending is just the choice to spend money today that will be obtained from taxation at a later date.

Corporations do not have any sort of exclusive lock on cost-benefit analysis.

Edit: including bad cost-benefit analysis.