Again, this has nothing to do with "profit-seeking" and a lot to do with business ethics. Two completely separate issues.

Whether they are separate issues or not depends on the company. There is certainly an incentive for companies to make their ethics secondary to profit. Therefore, right now, from a consumer's perspective, it is a matter of trust. And strong consumer protection can help increase certainty for the consumer.

> Whether they are separate issues or not depends on the company.

I don't understand this. At the end of the day they are separate things, probably you are saying a profit-seeking company is more likely to be unethical?

The fact that two things are usually correlated doesn't make them the same, right?

I said: we should not trust profit-seeking companies to be ethical.

Somehow, this was translated into: profit-seeking companies are unethical. Which is not what I said.

The issue is with your qualifier. Your implication is that what makes them unethical is the "profit-seeking", when is at best redundant (all companies are profit-seeking) and at worst misguided (boo-hoo, profit is bad)

Read again the conversation and please understand that my main issue with your comment is in using "private, profit-seeking companies" as a shortcut for "unethical".

> There is certainly an incentive for companies to make their ethics secondary to profit.

Replace "companies" for "dentists", "engineers", "plumbers" and "cooks", and this statement is still valid. The temptation to cheat and cut corners to favor short-term gains will always exist.

Yes, larger corporations give the ability for individuals to distance themselves from the consequences of their actions, and therefore it is more likely to see unethical behavior from large, faceless corporations. Still, this is not about "profit-seeking" or "profit-maximizing".

Your issue (and mine) is with Corporatism, not Capitalism. It is an important distinction to make.