Political Philosophy Basics
LiberalismProgressivismHarm PrincipleSecularismDemocracyUS ConstitutionDeclaration of IndependenceGettysburg AddressDemocratic SocialismUS Liberalism US ProgressivismPragmatismPersonalismSocialismWhat does it mean to: Put PEOPLE over PROFIT?
It means just what is says. No more. No less.
The statement stems from a principle of Economic Justice which values the well-being of people over the profits of merchants.
That is not to say they are at odds with one another. The best interests of the people are also the best interests of a merchant -- if that merchant wishes to continue in their endeavor -- for without people, their profits would vanish.
To misquote Margaret Thatcher:
The problem with capitalism is that you eventually run out of other people.
What is Profit | What is Advantage
Consider these points made by John Ruskin in his writings "Unto This Last" (1862):
- Wealth is the conjunction of character and material value, but each is destructive of the other.
- There is no profit in exchange, only advantage -- profit only results from labor.
- Gain in exchange by one party is loss to the other party and depends on that party's powerlessness or ignorance.
- Fair exchange requires that all parties know the advantages to the others. Any attempt to conceal is deceit.
- All labor can be divided into positive (producing life) and negative (producing death).
- The prosperity of a nation is in proportion to the quantity of labor it spends on obtaining and employing the means of life.
How do all these things fit together?
These charts tell a story of interrelatedness among the ideas of: Labor and Capital vs. Environment and Profit vs. Justice and Power.
Each of them are worthy of a moments study before we move on to the role of government in all this.
This shows the balance in social space between contrasting notions of Order, Power and Justice
Society must find this balance in a "Just Package" ensuring it is equally applied to all members
Imbalance, for any segment of society leads to tyranny, violence or both
Where Socio-Economic interests meet the Environment is Sustainability
This determines how long a society can continue in a closed system such as Earth
There is no "Planet B"
Finding your true purpose in life is made possible by a Just Society
A Just Society fosters the kind of insight, self-awareness, compassion and pragmatism needed for all these spheres to operate at the same time
This word cloud introduces the idea of individual health into the Socio-Economic relationship
Social justice and evrionmental justice each promote health and visa-versa
Further Reading
In the pursuit of quarterly profit growth, we seem to have lost sight of what a good economy looks like.
The circulation of wealth in a nation resembles that of the blood in the natural body. There is one quickness of the current which comes of cheerful emotion or wholesome exercise; and another which comes of shame or of fever. There is a flush of the body which is full of warmth and life; and another which will pass into putrefaction.
As diseased local determination of the blood involves depression of the general health of the system, all morbid local action of riches will be found ultimately to involve a weakening of the resources of the body politic.