Business ethic vs. human ethic

YouTube video Private Medicine is evil? raises a number of criticisms about the private healthcare system in America. Of particular interest to me is the argument expressed in the closing statement: “Profits for human life in my mind is evil.” What I think he means here is not necessarily that people and organizations shouldn’t profit for helping people, but rather that not helping those who cannot afford care is wrong. It’s important to distinguish between his explicit statement here and his larger argument. The narrator’s problems are that 1) large private corporations have been socially irresponsible, and 2) when financial incentives are the driving force of healthcare, glaring disparities often arise.

I tend to agree that universal healthcare is a more socially responsible approach (while some large corporations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have taken seriously their responsibility to give back to society, not all large corporations have been so altruistic) but I believe that present capitalistic values hinder the enactment of such a policy in America and elsewhere. A big concern of mine is the effect of the exportation of American capitalism on foreign cultures and economies—particularly when private approaches are not partnered with public entities that protect the health and economic interests of all those impacted. This is somewhat different from the argument for universal healthcare, as described above, but the underlying skepticism about capitalistic enterprises rings true in the case of providing quality of care in developing countries as well. With western values the way they are today, there is a tension. If we want to move towards a more socially responsible society, business ethics cannot replace the more overarching human ethics.