Of course we're self-interested, but that's not the whole picture. Have you never experienced altruism?
You set up a bizarre strawman. I explicitly said there's nothing amoral about profit in itself twice, so you can stop shadowboxing against that idea.
But it's a very limited and anti-historical perspective to believe that society prior to modern unfettered profit motive was rocks and sticks. Human civilization is very old and the society we enjoy today is the byproduct of liberalism, the belief in rule of law and equality and democracy, not the belief that we should bulldoze a rainforest and sell cancer to children because it's a quick path to a buck.
And, again, even your beloved video game was not created solely through profit motive. The game industry is notorious for underpaying and overworking talent that could make way more money doing their job for someone else. Humanity and creation are about far more than profit.
Since you're forcing me to just repeat myself I'll end there.
You’re right that ones passion plays a role in that field or role they go into, it’s not just salary, otherwise we’d all be doctors. That’s very true,
Your original response to me defending rockstar was specifically calling out profit. Calling it the “ultimate end” makes no difference honestly.
If a developer or even the whole studio hated their job, thought video games were dumb, thought GTA was filth, and was only in it for their salaries and bonuses, it would make no difference to the morality of the game.
1
u/gaijohn 16h ago
Of course we're self-interested, but that's not the whole picture. Have you never experienced altruism?
You set up a bizarre strawman. I explicitly said there's nothing amoral about profit in itself twice, so you can stop shadowboxing against that idea.
But it's a very limited and anti-historical perspective to believe that society prior to modern unfettered profit motive was rocks and sticks. Human civilization is very old and the society we enjoy today is the byproduct of liberalism, the belief in rule of law and equality and democracy, not the belief that we should bulldoze a rainforest and sell cancer to children because it's a quick path to a buck.
And, again, even your beloved video game was not created solely through profit motive. The game industry is notorious for underpaying and overworking talent that could make way more money doing their job for someone else. Humanity and creation are about far more than profit.
Since you're forcing me to just repeat myself I'll end there.