this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2024
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I'm glad someone said it because this thought popped in my head yesterday. Been thinking about the consequences of my system, and really if it brings benefit to the users, but also who it affects indirectly.
So far, I'm ok with it. There is part of it that adds some safety for the business, the users, and people affected indirectly. But it still has a profit motive and that's the uncomfortable part.
Edit: I should clarify that I'm talking about my software system. Not the healthcare system in the U.S. like the author is. It's nowhere near as lucrative as making money off of people literally suffering from life. But the author mentioned how the CEOs see numbers not people. If the numbers my system collects ends up hurting people, that's what I was reflecting on.
There is nothing wrong with making a profit. People have to be paid, after all, and that includes the ownership who put the money at risk in the operation to begin with. The problem is when making a profit becomes the only motive.
Every company is established with the purpose of offering a product or performing a service that makes their customers' better or simpler. If is successful, it grows from nothing to something in a relatively short period of time. Then it gets the attention of the Investor Class, who shovels money into it with the expectation that it will sustain that growth. Now, the focus is on Building Shareholder Value, and the customer is seen as a necessary evil toward that goal.
The worst thing that ever happened was when we decided that public corporations had a duty to maximize shareholder value above everything else. It renders all those mission and vision statements irrelevant. No matter how much the CEO says the firm's goal is to make the world a better place through selling stuff, we all know it's a lie. Their goal is to enrich tthemselves, at our expense.
If the USA keeps putting off single payer. The first thing that should happen is all health insurance companies be required to become non-profits and cap CEOs and other c levels pay at a certain % of the lowest paid workers.