In a capitalistic society, is it wrong to seek profit?

Question

Because this is what I'm seeing in this country. Far too many people want to blame the oil companies and say that they are to blame for the supply but come on, let's face it, we don't have enough refineries in this country to satiate the population. We import gas, people! Then we have to refine that, because it isn't refined enough for us. Companies are not in business to supply your need to help the consumer. They want to make momey. To keep in business, to employ people, to offer the consumer the best product they can produce at the best price possible. The consumer, on the other hand, wants to but the product at the lowest price. They can go somewhere else or lower their demand if the price it too high. Not that hard to figure out.

Answer 1

nope, it's just wrong to collude with what should have been your competitiors

Answer 2

It's ok to seek profit, but not at the harm of other people. Oil companies might have a tough time getting oil, etc. but then why do they keep reporting record profits year after year? Profit means after cost of operation, hon. They don't need to charge the American people $3 to $5 for a gallon of gas to stay in business. I don't like paying almost $4 a gallon, but it's not enough to quit my job and completely relocate for, that's not a very viable solution. I don't get where you're coming from? Do you enjoy the rate at which gas prices have risen in the past few years? It's disgusting that anyone would be on the side of those greedy billionaires. I know all about supply and demand. If there were a supply and demand problem, we'd be waiting in line for gas and gas would not be available to us all the time. That's simply not happening. You need to go take an economics course my dear.

Answer 3

That's exactly why no oil company has built a refinery in this country in thirty years. If they could increase production they wouldn't have to decrease prices and that would cut into the highest profits in their history. We import crude oil and refine it here. We don't import refined gas. The oil companies will tell you they don't build refineries because of environmental laws, but they have enough legislators in their pockets to avoid all other laws so that argument is full of holes.
No one with a car can 'go elsewhere' for a tankful, and in the winter, heating is becoming a luxury item.
Sensibly we need inexpensive solar panels on every house for renewable energy. Right now they are too expensive to be practical for most of us. And we really need to put our scientists on a substitute for oil in gas tank, that way we can be energy independent and not have to worry about wars.

Answer 4

Why do you refuse to acknowledge that capitalism is evil? When anyone profits from anything, no matter how hard they worked, it makes people who didn't work feel bad. Capitalism has helped make America the most powerful country on earth, and given the American people a lifestyle that is the envy of most people from every other country, and that makes them feel bad. You just don't get it. We would all be better off if capitalism is eliminated so we all would be equally miserable communists slaves. That way no one would be jealous of us.
And don't you dare select a best answer for this, or any other question. If you do, you will be rewarding someone for their work, and that would be almost like an evil capitalistic profit.

Answer 5

Competition also used to be a part of pricing and a motivation to finding better and cheaper ways of doing things as well as supply and demand. That no longer seems to be relevent. Even the gas stations don't compete. When one is raising its price, they call all the rest on the phone and they all raise the price at the same time. (They really do. I've heard them more than once.) There is no point in being in business if there is no profit, however, allowing corporations of any kind to hold the American economy hostage to their greed can not be tolerated either.

Answer 6

You wrote,"Companies are not in business to supply your need to help the consumer. They want to make money."

Companies are in control of the supply, for better or worse. They can either MEET the demand by increasing production (which may mean building more facilities) or they can NOT MEET the demand, and the price goes up for the consumer.

What would you consider a fair profit margin?

And granted, we COULD reduce our demand.

Answer 7

the price has doubled... demand didn't even increase by a third in the same period?

refineries are a part of the problem... but it's FAR, FAR, FAR from even being a majority of the problem...

it's a vast oversimplification of what's going on and why prices are high...

but it's ok to seek profit... but many think that it's wrong to price gouge... which investigations may be upcoming... odd how they have been shutting down refineries during peak demand for routine maintenance?

Answer 8

Its never wrong to seek profit.
it is wrong to throw ethics, and the environment to the dogs to boost that profit.
Also, when you are profiting and doing well, it is extremely unethical to buy up smaller refiners and close them down to boost your profit through the roof on something that national security and the economy is so dependant on.
BTW most companies make profits when their production costs go down, not make higher profit when it goes up.

Carpanone K, people complain constantly about microsoft. If your comment was true, there wouldn't be a Linux operating system.

Answer 9

No. Profit is the goal in a Capitalistic society. But the US has not been purely capitalistic in ages. And pure capitalism is probably not the way to address the problems facing us currently, if we are interested in continuing our status as a nation which cares about human rights.

But no taking of profit as a solution, either.

Answer 10

No i isn't wrong to seek a profit. It is wrong to control the government with graft and corruption.

BTW, we pay the lowest gas prices in the world because the oil companies are heavily subsidized by tax credits. WE can only blame prices on consumption and our President.

Hussein isn't making anyone live in a McMansion or drive a Hummer.

Answer 11

Getting profits is wonderful. Everyone should strive for this but collusion on prices and conspiring to create the current gas problem by getting refineries shut down and then using the remaining ones to to manipulate the prices is borderline illegal.