Profits are Pro-life

Producers have long been under attack around the world. The pandemic has intensified those attacks. Perhaps the most notable target are housing producers and vaccine producers. We must not, the attackers declare, put profits before people. But the fact is, attacking producers is an attack on human life. Producers have enabled mankind to rise from a world of perpetual scarcity to a world of unimaginable abundance.

These attacks are the embodiment of certain philosophical ideas. Epistemologically (the theory of knowledge), the attacks are a monstrous evasion. Ethically, they are an open call for sacrifice. Politically, they are demand for subservience to the State.

To attack producers, one must evade the very nature of production. The values that sustain human life do not magically appear simply because we want or need them. Values must be produced, and to produce any value, one must think. One must identify what actions are required to bring that value into existence, and then one must take the requisite actions. The attacks on producers are an attack on the mind. They are an attempt render the producer’s judgment irrelevant by forcing him to act contrary to what he deems best.

These attacks are founded on the premise that we have a moral duty to sacrifice for others. We have an obligation to share the values we produce with those who do not or cannot. Values, we are told, should not be produced for our own benefit, but for others. Landlords have an obligation to provide housing to renters. Big Pharma has a duty to share its vaccines with poor countries.

When producers are unwilling to voluntarily sacrifice, the attackers call for the State to intervene and force them. If producers won’t honor their unchosen obligations volitionally, then government should compel them to do so. Landlords should be forced to rent their properties on terms and conditions set by government. Big Pharma should have its intellectual property rights stripped and be required to share its knowledge and technology with others.

Putting people before profits, as the attackers advocate, means sacrificing the individuals and businesses that produce the values we want and need. It means shackling the hands of those who produce housing. It means enslaving the minds of those who produce life-saving medicines. Despite the denunciations of putting profits before people, those who attack the producers want to sacrifice some people for the alleged benefit of other people.

Contrary to the claims of the attackers, there is no conflict between people and profits. Producers earn a profit by creating and trading values with people who want and need those values. Profits are their reward for producing life-sustaining values. Profits are pro-life.