Comment on Sundar Pichai argues in court that Google isn’t evil, it’s just a business
Paradachshund@lemmy.today 7 months agoWhile I definitely agree with parts of this, that making it costly to do amoral things would be good, I have to say that the rest is exactly what I’m calling out. By saying that profit is the only goal of business, and that being purely profit-driven is an amoral position, we give the greedy and amoral a tremendous free pass. We blame the victims, consumers, because they continue to support these greedy people with their money, when we should be holding the greedy fully accountable. They are the problem and existing purely for greed is not an amoral state of being. It is quite the opposite, and that is what we must no longer accept.
No offense to you, I don’t think you mean any harm by your comment, but it served as a good example of the mindset I am trying to address.
hitmyspot@aussie.zone 7 months ago
Your mistake is to assign any portion of the action to a corporation. They are a legal entity, sure, but they are an empty vessel. They don’t have morals or choice or a conscience. People do. The people doing amoral things are incentivised to do so. They make only a part of the corporation. That’s the point. To act as a collective, and as a shield.
Remove the incentive for the individuals and for the entity and the problem disappears. It’s not the fault of consumers. It’s a fault of the system. Change the system. Consumers can play a part in that, but that doesn’t make them to blame.
Paradachshund@lemmy.today 7 months ago
I am aiming my criticism at the individuals, so we agree on that. I would also love to see the incentives change, but no offense, that’s a hand wave. There’s nothing actionable in what you said. Standing up and saying no more is action, and something we can accomplish as individuals. Change comes from people, not from systems. Systems can only change once the people change.
hitmyspot@aussie.zone 7 months ago
“No more” is also a hand wave, lol.
I’m saying change the incentives. That means fines in multiples of the potential profit. I’m saying fines for individuals, not just companies.
I’m saying put the bad actors out of business with the fines. So the other companies are incentivised not to do it, or they die.
I’m saying stand up and say no, so it’s a pr nightmare and loss for companies to encroach on our privacies and rights. I’m saying fines for data breaches. Fines for misusing data. Fines for using our likeness.
Paradachshund@lemmy.today 7 months ago
All I can say is I really agree with your vision, and while I don’t see a path to get there in the current system, especially as individuals, I hope we can.