News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Trees not profits: we're giving up our right to ever sell Ecosia (2018). Parent comment

Re:Trees not profits: we're giving up our right to ever sell... by jmcqk6 on Monday March 10, 2025 @11:50AM (#43321859)
Profits are bad when they exist due to unethical cost cutting. Profits are bad when they artificially lower the cost of the good by exporting the costs to other people.

If a clothing company is profitable because they use slave labor, that is not good profit.

If an oil company is profitable because they do not address the environmental impact they have, that is not good profit.

If an insurance company is profitable because they refuse required treatments for their customers, that is not good profit.

You have a very simplistic view of profit that is not based in actual history. We have centuries of seeing this exact thing happen over and over again. Just because something is profitable does not make it good. Only someone obsessed with theory while ignoring the practice could think otherwise.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Trees not profits: we're giving up our right to ever sell... by nosefurhairdo on Monday March 10, 2025 @12:42PM (#43322375)
In other words, profits are bad when they necessitate some threshold of negative externalities.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Trees not profits: we're giving up our right to ever sell... by BurningFrog on Monday March 10, 2025 @02:11PM (#43323664)
If a clothing company is profitable because they use slave labor, the use of slave labor is bad.

The profit is not the problem. It wouldn't be any better if the company made no profit.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Trees not profits: we're giving up our right to ever sell... by jmcqk6 on Monday March 10, 2025 @03:04PM (#43324531)
This is a distinction unworthy of merit. The slave labor creates the profit. The only reason it exists is because of the profit.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Trees not profits: we're giving up our right to ever sell... by hamdouni on Monday March 10, 2025 @02:54PM (#43324393)
On the contrary, it will be an incentive to stop.
[ Parent | on HN ]