If you go the pure capitalistic approach (I am only interested in money) it seems like a bad moral play for society in general.
Why can't a corporation have a moral imperative that says "I will not participate in acts of cruelty"?
Corporations have a lot of power in our society and it seems having a moral guideline here would be beneficial to society as whole. Yes I know this can but both toward liberal and conservative ideals but overall I think it's a better position to have.
Why can't a corporation have a moral imperative that says "I will not participate in acts of cruelty"?
Because it won't be consistent about it.
Lockdowns are the heart of cruelty. Mass, evil incarceration of entire populations without any evidence they work, such that millions of people have had to go without vital life saving cancer screenings, they've been losing their jobs, there have been suicides, etc. Incredibly cruel policies. So surely every corporation is going to be totally anti-lockdown, right?
Oh, what's that? There are tradeoffs, you disagree, etc.
Well, yeah. And that's why institutions of any kind shouldn't adopt such vague, naive, poorly thought out slogans. Even defining "acts of cruelty" is hard. Look at this thread. Some leftist immediately dragged it into the standard tirade against US immigration control. Why is the cruelty there being inflicted by those who enforce the laws rather than the parents who take their children on an adventure of illegal immigration, knowing full well what the consequences may be? You can slice it both ways, depending on perspective.
That's why smart firms stay out of these debates, unless they were specifically founded to take a position on one of them. But it seems Valley tech firms are increasingly not so smart. That's OK, it'll be good to have a free competitive edge over them.
Isn't the point (or at least on of the most important points) of law and the justice system to protect from harm (and handle those who violate laws)?
Thus, if it's legal then the company is doing nothing wrong. If they're harming someone then laws should change - which is what the democratic/legislative arm is for - and law suits should be filed.
I'm not against a company having a moral stance but to implicate all those that don't as bad moral actors when they system is set up the way it is seems a tad invidious.
The whole point of politics is that the law does not and cannot fully capture what’s right and wrong. Just because something is legal, it doesn’t mean it isn’t wrong, and I don’t like the idea that companies ought to act as though that’s the case.
> The whole point of politics is that the law does not and cannot fully capture what’s right and wrong.
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
Legislators work to try and capture what is right for now and the future, and in common law jurisdictions a claimant may (sometimes) sue and not have to wait for legislation. As I wrote, I'm not against anyone taking a positive moral stance but since there's no way to know or even agree on what is moral, to say that it's immoral to take no stance other than to work within the law (which is a already a very extensive moral code) would seem invidious.
Why can't a corporation have a moral imperative that says "I will not participate in acts of cruelty"?
Corporations have a lot of power in our society and it seems having a moral guideline here would be beneficial to society as whole. Yes I know this can but both toward liberal and conservative ideals but overall I think it's a better position to have.