I don't doubt money influences things, but also I don't buy into what seems like an all or nothing theory here that the only driver is money or some vague "money".
In an capitalist society money will be... everywhere in most every market. It's awfully easy to point that out.
How exponential growth works, for one. Two, its implications on JIT supply chains modern society operates on.
In all honesty, money flow is the most powerful force on this planet. On the face of it, this looks like a pretty trite observation, but it isn't. What it means is that if you study the feedback loops and incentive structures, look at the market as a dynamic system, you'll see where things are heading - and that picture is very bleak.
For instance, you can be damn sure that no matter how badly this epidemic goes, the next one will be handled just as badly. All the problems: lack of tests, disappearing protective equipment, fragile supply chains - are a direct and predictable consequence of market pressures, which chip away all safety buffers, piece by piece. You can't fix this without reducing or removing the influence of market pressures in many points across our society - which is synonymous with the trite saying, "we need to stop X from being driven by money".
And to GPs point, those reaping the rewards of the growth are not those impacted by the first or second order effects.
I completely agree with that. Right now the system is less than ideal. But, there is many people willing to fight for a better world. And cynicism is only going to make things worse.
Many wrong decision are taken in name of profits. But that can be changed, our well being, our planet are at stake.
We have time and will to make things better. I just want to point out that we need to work for it. It will not come for free.
There is many studies that show that the government aligns strongly with big money. Just look at the state of health care as an example.