Harming customers is a business model

I spent years believing and defending the notion that having a business model which sought to damage the health of its customers would be bad for that business ,never mind morally reprehensible.There are obvious exceptions of course , like drugs cartels.

 I worked in packaged foodstuffs almost all of my career , long a target of negative sentiment, sadly sometimes deserved. 

If we just look at the business world and leave the politics aside, which is not as straightforward as it might apppear there are a few notable examples in fields I know nothing about which do suggest that insufficiently regulated businesses are as dangerous as unaccountable governments when it comes to the health of nations.

 Currently the public debate in the UK centres around the windfall profits of energy producers combined with limited government response pushing significant numbers of UK households into potential energy poverty in the coming months as consumer prices reach record and unaffordable levels. 

The opiod crisis in the USA has been rumbling on a few years now.

Raw sewage in UK waters thanks to privatized utilities and rolling back of legal safeguards.

The dangers of social media platforms when it comes to protecting the mental health of in particular the young, vulnerable and impressionable.

The dangers of online platforms facilitating the spread of falsehoods be they political , medical or economic.

The legalization of adverts for online gambling and alcohol.

The role and responsibilities of food and drink companies in trying to help prevent the spread of obesity and related health issues such as type 2 diabetes .

The decades long fight by the tobacco industry to disassociate smoking from the incidence of various cancers.

All the above pose potential if not real risk of harm to customers. 

These examples suggest to me at least that some businesses do not have the health and wellbeing of customers at the top of their priorities, just limitless profits.

It starts at the top ,sadly, with governments choosing to subject in particular more disadvantaged citizens to life threatening hardships directly through economic ,medical and social policies.

Maybe harming your customers is a business model after all.  Maybe I need to revisit  my views on purpose...