The business of business is business

From Henry Miller:

Human rights? Their expansion and consolidation are worthy goals, to be sure, but Vasella's saccharine altruism brings to mind economist Milton Friedman's 1970 reproachful observation that "businessmen believe that they are defending free enterprise when they declaim that business is not concerned 'merely' with profit but also with promoting desirable 'social' ends; that business has a 'social conscience' and takes seriously its responsibilities for providing employment, eliminating discrimination ... and whatever else may be the catchwords of the contemporary crop of reformers." Friedman derided business executives so inclined as "unwitting puppets of the intellectual forces that have been undermining the basis of a free society." ...

Businesses do not have social responsibilities; only people do. And inasmuch as corporate leaders work for the owners of the business, their responsibility is to pursue the best interests of their employers - interests that relate primarily to making as much money as possible while conforming to the legal rules and ethical norms of society. By taking actions on behalf of the company that he decides arbitrarily are "socially responsible," a corporate executive is, in effect, spending someone else's money. His actions reduce returns to stockholders, which means he is spending their money.

One of the easiest things to do is to spend other people's money on causes in which you believe. One of the most difficult, but most meaningful, is to spend your own money. If executives wish to support non-business-related goals of their own choosing, they should make charitable contributions from their private fortunes. Many charitable foundations have been established precisely for that purpose.