Freedom Flyer 30

Has the word 'profit' become a four letter word?

Robert Smink
Guest Columnist

Is it just me, or do you also get the feeling that there's a growing tinge of jealousy, often combined with outright hostility, towards anyone or any group making a large profit?

Regarding the recent record profits of $5.2 billion by the six big banks, the major media in Canada, the press, TV and radio, have reported those profits as almost something bad, if not tragic.

I, for one, believe that we should be happy that our banks, trust companies, and credit unions are making money. If the banks made little or no profit, that would be tragic ... even apocalyptic.

It would indicate a sick economy and a bankrupt country. it would throw us into a recession that would make the depression of the 1930s pale in comparison.

For more than 60 years, socialists, led by unions and the NDP, abetted by all the major political parties, and comforted by the politically correct media, have consistently portrayed profits as something almost illegal or obscene. Their tone usually implies that profits are something 'dirty' and worthy only of fat cigar-smoking 19th-century industrialists and robber barons who made their fortunes on the backs of the poor in sweatshops and through inhumane child and near slave labour.

The implication, of course, is that anyone generating profit can only be doing so at someone else's loss, a win-lose situation. Thus, profits must all somehow be 'evil'.

But, when the great industrialists of the century past made their fortunes in a free market, without the use of force and without the assistance or interference of government they created NEW WEALTH. They did not take it from those who did not have it or from those who did not create it. They understood that you can't get blood from a stone and that true wealth can only be created from a 'win-win' relationship between producers and consumers.

For those who doubt it, take a look at the standard of living of those countries where such entrepreneurs and industrialists are not allowed to exist.

Webster's Dictionary defines 'profit' as "gain, a positive return on investment, a valuable return, a benefit, yielding advantageous returns or results, and net income". These are all positive attributes.

By definition then, the word 'profit' is a synonym for success. Unless you are a criminal or a government, profit can only be gained through the virtues of voluntary trade and not through force.

Consider what it takes to produce success, and thus profits: thought, resourcefulness, intelligence, thrift, integrity, dedication, reason, hard work, honesty, risk-taking, trust, knowledge, respect for others, judgment, creativity, freedom, objectivity, planning, in short, productive ability.

Is it conceivably possible that 'evil' can emanate from such a list of virtues?

By morally and intellectually denigrating the word 'profit' socialists try to justify their claim to, and theft of, the very profits that they supposedly despise. To disguise the greedy morality that motivates them, socialists argue that profits should be 'redistributed' for the 'good of the community'.

Philosophically, communal ownership of 'resources' and 'profit' is taken for granted. The moral concept of individual property rights is swept aside. The virtues of profit have been blindsided by the socialist philosophy that it's OK to rob Peter to pay Paul!

The major media has carried this banner of socialism practically un- opposed!

Ayn Rand:

"...Western man's abundance was not created by public sacrifices to 'the common good', but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve or enslave people to pay for industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages, and cheaper and more abundant goods and services with every machine invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance. Thus, the whole of western civilization was moving forward and PROFITING - not suffering every step of the way."

Let us recall a few old axioms that have withstood the test of time:

1) You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.

2) You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

3) You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

4) You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

5) You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.

6) You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

7) You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

8) You cannot stay out of trouble by spending more than your income.

9) You cannot remain in business for long without profit.

Profits are merely a reflection of all the virtues required to create success. They should be celebrated as an expression of all that is good and right, whether in an individual, a family, a company, a group of companies, or anywhere in our society.

It's time that profits were hailed and glorified for the success and virtue they are the measure of.