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what is profitable for the individual may not be profitable for the group.


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There's a difference between individuals and profit maximizing organizations.

When people say "it's profitable" I think what they really should say is that it's profitable for one group of individuals, when at the same time very unprofitable for the other group(s) of individuals (namely, consumers and victims). Moreover, unprofitability for the latter greatly exceeds the profitability for the former and it is only by coercing and power is it possible to preserve the status quo.

If profit is shared, it's not profit the organization can use as a buffer. The organization itself requires profit. That profit cannot be distributed without putting continuity of the organization at risk.

Not all companies are profitable :)

That's not true at all, just because one individual person can make a temporary, big profit in an industry, that does not mean that the industry itself is profitable. Industry has large investment costs and takes time to become profitable, sometimes it never does.

Useful and profitable are not the same thing.

Almost profitable is not profitable.

I think the point is just that profits do not end up going to the people doing the majority of the work.

profitable for who?

Profitable and pleasant are not the same thing.

Not everything that's good for society is profitable, especially in the short term.

You have described the reason why many of us don't consider maximizing profit to be a desired behavior in all circumstances.

Producing goods is often not as profitable as owning the market and taking a cut of every transaction.

profitable and useful are two different things.

Yes having to make a profit limits your business model options.

Such profits aren't usually sustainable when the competition starts doing it.

It may come as a shock to you, but there are people for whom getting the maximum possible profit is not the primary concern.

According to the article, if you have one business and still work for someone else then the business is not profitable.

It basically states that multiple-streams of income means the smallest stream doesn't deserve the definition "profitable".

So questions like mine are valuable to fleshing out this theory....


There's a difference between "not profitable" and "not profitable enough."
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