Why do so many people see a company that makes big profits as being greedy?
Many people complain about the big profits by large companies and characterize this profit as the company being greedy. They seem to expect that the company somehow “owes” society those profits. Often these are the same people who support unions for workers.
Why is it greed when a company wants to make the biggest profits they can make but it isn’t greed when the workers want the most pay that they can get for doing there job? Why is it greed when CEOs get big salaries but not greed when other workers go on strike to make more money? Shouldn’t everyone have the same right to make as much money as they can regardless of the amount?
WELCOME: I don’t know how it works in England but in the US most utilities are heavily regulated and have to go before a government board to ask for any rate increases. It is also this government regulation that often prevents them from investing in better technology. Electric companies are often denied requests to build nuclear power plants. Oil companies are denied drilling rights in many areas that would make oil and gas cheaper. Companies trying to build wind farms are often denied by local governments because it doesn’t look good.
WITCHY: Good points. The media does control the attitudes of many people about corporate profits. It is funny how Congress can be outraged over oil companies making a couple billion in profits but think nothing of spending 100 billion themselves.
The definition of greed goes along with the definition of poor. The “poor” people in the US are considered middle class or sometimes well off in other countries.
Related posts:
- Do I have to share the profits with the company that makes Tampons if my homemade Tampon lure is a big seller?
- Some people bash Big Oil and Big Pharma because they say they make obscene profits, why don’t the same people?
- Why do some people support big business when they ship jobs overseas and hire illegals for better profits?
- Does anyone know who makes money when BIG corporations make big profits?
- What Is More Important To Big Business, People Or Profit?
bc so many companies right now r falling apart so if u r lucky and ur business is not crashing then ur considered greedy bc ur business is actually making money
Most people don’t begrudge companies making a profit for the shareholders (after all, that’s what they are designed to do) but most people would prefer, in particular utility companies, to be seen to be investing some of their profits back into the business in order to provide a better (or even cheaper) service to the customer, rather than acting rapaciously and deliberately or arbitrarily increasing prices when the level of service hasn’t increased - just to bolster their own profits.
Because that’s what the media tells them. Lately, we’re being told that health insurance companies are greedy. But their profit margins are only a meager 2.2%. That’s a horrible percentage for a business. This is how it measures up to some other businesses:
“The latest annual profit margins of a selection of products, services and industries: Tupperware Brands, 7.5 percent; Yahoo, 5.9 percent; Hershey, 6.1 percent; Clorox, 8.7 percent; Molson Coors Brewing, 8.1 percent; construction and farm machinery, 5 percent; Yum Brands (think KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell), 8.5 percent. ”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091025/ap_on_go_co/us_fact_check_health_insurance
Yet, how many people care to look up the facts? If the media tells them that insurance companies are greedy, the people simply believe it.
I don’t think it’s greedy at all. Besides that, I’m not even sure that people all have the same definition of greedy. Greed is supposed to be having more than you “need”. Who determines what people “need”? In some countries, running water is not a “need”. In the US, some people don’t consider a car a “need”. So does that mean that everyone who has running water or a car is greedy? Is everyone who has more than they actually need to survive greedy?
I don’t even use the word greed because the definition is too vague to have any real meaning.