[Oberon]

Funny thing happened to me one day -- I found out that a Dean of Engineering of a local University and his wife -- both educated with higher degrees -- were uncomfortable with the word "profit"! They treated it like a dirty word? I wonder how they thought they got their bread and butter (and all their fancy hobbies -- motorcycles, horses, etc) if it didn't come from the PROFIT earned by the taxpayers???

That's HILARIOUS.

I once had a co-worker (and this was a smart guy in most respects) tell me that he thought it was wrong that shareholders in a company should receive dividends. It was like they made money for contributing nothing, he said.

I worked very hard to disabuse him of the notion of a profit-free economy, and I'm not sure I ever did really succeed.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I have to say that I was shocked by the “profit aversion” discovery among, otherwise, very nice people. But, the idea cropped up again just this weekend in the “Letter to the Parishioners” from our Pastor. He pointed out that the Catholic Church was Pro-Life, Pro-Fair-work, Pro-fair treatment of workers, but “not necessarily pro-profit”.

My jaw dropped when I read that (and he’s a Republican) becaue he certainly wants all of us to give HIM our profits for the support of the church.

Where did this idea come from that PROFIT is a bad thing? Making a profit is the ONLY way employers can improve the lot of the workers.