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/biz/ - Business & Finance

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709339 No.709339 [Reply] [Original]

To what degree do ethics and morality influence your business decisions?

I'm somewhere in the middle: I wouldn't not invest in alcohol or guns because those things can hurt people, but I also wouldn't cheat someone casually, either.

>> No.709341

I personally think a bit of it comes down to your personality. If you are a kind person, you're less likely to try and cheat people out of a deal and feel guilty.

>> No.709361

They don't.

If something is legal and won't get me in trouble/shunned/targetted by the general public, and it's a decent way to make money, I'd do it.

>> No.709368

>>709361

In that sense, though, you're pretty heavily influenced by morals, just not your own.

>> No.709370

>>709339

I can hurt someone with your PC screen.
I suggest you stop browsing this website immediatly.

>> No.709373

You should always keep your word and not cause direct harm. Beyond that it's pretty much fair game.

>> No.709375

>>709368
Fair point. It's all about results, but they're restricted by social norms.

>> No.709380

>>709339
>I wouldn't not invest in alcohol or guns because those things can hurt people

You are retarded in more ways than one.

You are made of the same "stuff" as CVS management: "We'll stop selling tobacco because it kills. Now we have more sell space for Coca-Cola and Doritos."

Kill yourself; at a minimum, fail at whatever you set out to do.

>> No.709421

>>709380

I must have written what I said wrong, or you misread it.

Either way, I will clarify:
I would still invest in firearms and alcohol because those things hurt people. Gun manufacturers and investors are not responsible for the actions of bad people who use guns. The same way if I invest in GM, I shouldn't feel bad if people who buy GMs love to run people over.

>> No.709431

>>709373

What about breaking the spirit of laws while keeping to the word?

What constitutes direct harm?

>> No.709440

nothing matters at all, and life is meaningless, so if causing immense harm brings the greatest profits, then do it

nothing matters in the end

>> No.709460

>>709421

This is what happens when you use double negatives, moron.

>> No.709463

>>709460

Some guy on the internet calls me a moron and I don't care?

>> No.709467

>>709463

>I care so little that I decided to reply, telling him how little I care.

>> No.709471

>>709467

>He replies showing that he cares so much about how much I care
>We both waste time in an internet fight.
Well played.

>> No.709508

>>709339
None at all. After 20 years of work, I am pretty much a mercenary for hire and willing to do what I need to do to get my next paycheck.

>> No.710452

>>709339
I care about other people well being, but in my country we got a saying;
"Someone's bread is someone else's dead"
And it means that if you're making money, someone else is probably losing money because of you.
I base almost all of my decisions on the well being of myself.

>> No.710478

>>710452

Eh. If the interest on my bonds is someone else losing money as a direct result of my actions, then at least I'm not robbing people for money.

>> No.710505

>>709339

100%.

My organization is heavily subsidized so an ethics panel regularly reviews the company and the project.

>> No.710517

>>709421
>I must have written what I said wrong, or you misread it.

I did misread it (though it was poorly worded, the "wouldn't not" part); however, it was the "those things hurt people" that ignited my little rant there. Anyway, my apologies for the post.

>> No.710531

Alcohol is not evil at all by moderation and guns have their uses. Guns are good, alcohol... meh. Alcohol is as evil as MMO's are.

I expected more loaded examples. I consider myself a moral man (My ideology is, I'd say, traditionalism with a good bit of ultraconservatism, not the watered down neocon shill shit), but I'd invest in guns and alcohol without even thinking about morality.

In fact I already invested in weapons before. Even some of my first trades, indeed. Made good money, because not too long ago people panic bought guns and ammo in Murca.

>> No.710534

>>710531
Wouldn't invest in GMO's though.
Shit might end up in my food.

Doubt this has much to do with good/bad, but more with "what do i want to support?" a question that an investor might ask himself from time to time... considering the vastness of options one might as well cut some of the fat this way.

>> No.710722

>>709361
What do you see as "a decent way to make money" tough?

>> No.710723

>>709339
The answer is simple for too many people:
"Ethics? What's that?"

>> No.711311

>>709380
>You are made of the same "stuff" as CVS management: "We'll stop selling tobacco because it kills. Now we have more sell space for Coca-Cola and Doritos."

The whole CVS thing was a marketing tactic, which coupled with the CVS medical "minute clinics" to make the CVS healthcare brand image stronger.

It wasn't about morals in the slighest.

>> No.711331
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711331

>>709339
Ethics and morality are rather subjective concepts. You can deceive disrupt and manipulate, but I do have one rule. I always keep my word. Any businessman who fails to understand this concept is doomed from the start.

>> No.711421

>>709375
That worries me a bit. Surely you must have some limit, if you aren't a sociopath? "Invest in my fund, it's a fund where I kill people you love while you watch and pay you money" would be pretty bad.

That's the most absurd extent of my argument - but personally I would not invest in something I believe does harm, unless it was severely outweighed by good. The amount of good an investment of mine does is important.

>> No.711425

>>710452
If you say money to mean literally money, that's probably true. If you mean value, that's absolutely not true. People give up money for more valuable things all the time. Total value is something that can increase over time.

>> No.711426

Do I come out positive in a cost-benefit analysis? Are my actions and resulting liabilities within applicable law? If so, full speed ahead.

>> No.711429

>>710534
>Wouldn't invest in GMO's though.
GMO fears are bullshit. Food has been genetically modified since the beginning of agriculture, and the scientific consensus is well-established on this. I want to hate Monsanto as much as the next guy, but GMO's are a good thing.

>>711426
I assume your costs and benefits include non-monetary, ethical concerns? Because for many in this thread, they apparently don't.

>> No.711433

>>711429
I don't calculate ethics unless it directly affects my gains or the legality of the situation.

>> No.711449

>>711429
Yeah except the WHO found that Roundup causes cancer.

>> No.711452
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711452

im a big fan of utilitarianism

i just do the right thing, as long i don't hurt anyone and its legal then im going in the right direction

>> No.711461

>>711449
They didn't find shit. They cherry picked studies from other sources that lead to the conclusion that it's "probably" carcinogenic, when the sources themselves (i.e. the people who, you know, actually did the research) say that it isn't.

>> No.711490

>>709339
I believe in ethics, I don't wish suffering on others like some edgelord.

That said it is impractical most of the time. I can't afford to waste too many resources, also most of my money goes into growing the economy anyway.

I live beneath my means and find efficient ways to allocate capital.

>> No.711526

>>711461
Monsanto pls

>> No.711610

>>711429
It has never been genetically modified. More like bred for favourable traits.

While similar its not the same.

Also:
>>711449

Why GMOs? The companies are borderline criminal and operate like a mafia. What's wrong with normal food? We already have food surplus, might as well just eat it.

>> No.711626

>>709508
come replace the lightbulb i can't reach, ladders are scary.

I give you $2 for it - you bring lightbulb

>> No.711628

>>709339

It's really pleasant when my ethics and business decisions dovetail. That's about all I can say about it.

>> No.711975

>>709341
Neutral good
>>709361
Lawful evil
>>709373
True neutral
>>709440
Chaotic evil

Do these alignments represent everyone on /biz/ ?

>> No.712038

>>709339
To be honest I don't really have anything that resembles a moral code or whatever, I just do what I feel like.
For me that means that to people I don't know or am just starting to work with, my relationship with them is just a tactical thing for a goal I have. However, and this is for me personally, when someone takes me under their wing/protects me when they won't gain anything/etc., I feel a loyalty towards them that sways my decisions heavily. It hasn't gotten me into trouble yet, but I suppose the potential is there.

Even if I don't actually have ethics and just do whatever, I feel like pulling the 'unethical badass' card in this thread is kind of pointless, and there's a lot of that here.

>>709361
So basically, your morals and the law are in-line.

>> No.713267

>>711975
>Do these alignments represent everyone on /biz/ ?

Maybe. They seem to represent most of the investors I've met over the course of my life.

Lawful Good: Those socially-aware funds that have mostly died off in the early 2000s.
Chaotic Good: Venture capitalists whose main goal is to change the world for the better through Disruption(tm) of incumbents, but they're rare and wealthy enough they can afford to take risks that most would otherwise reject. Elon Musk, etc.

(True neutral here, tendencies towards lawful neutral. The principle that one's word is bond is sacrosanct. You fat-finger a trade, you own the results. My lawful tendencies come from an overly-cautious interpretation of the principles behind the insider trading regs: If XYZcorp pays my paycheck, part of what I'm being paid for is to maintain the confidentiality of what I learn about its clients. If XYZ's client ABCcorp has 10000 employees but orders 5000 brand-new desks or rents 1000 dumpsters, I'd consider myself obliged not to trade ABC until news of the major expansion or layoff has hit, even if I was just a janitor at XYZcorp.)

>> No.713406
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713406

>>709339
>break up with gf
>gf had a husky
>tfw miss the husky more than the ex

>> No.713407

>>711975

I like to think of myself as Lawful Good.

I follow the rules and don't want to hurt nobody. At the same time, I'd still do business to support myself and probably not throw myself into working much harder than I need to live modestly.

>> No.713410

>>713406

When my grandmother who practically raised me as a third parent died of Alzheimer's, I was glad my family was free of the burden and have not cried since the day she was buried.

When we had to put my dog down because her rear legs got paralyzed at her advanced age, I cried for days. I still get moist eyes thinking about it.

Dogs evoke strong emotions in people.