Quote Originally Posted by DuncanONeil View Post
So as I understand what you said, profit is a bad thing!! Fortune ranks the insurance industry at 47 out of 53 in profits related to revenue (-3% for 2008). Top of that list was Network and Other Communications Equipment at 20.4%. Yahoo finance has accident and health insurance ranked 59th for 2010 with a profit margin of 6.7% about half the return for Railroads.
The numbers say there is not a lot of profit to be had here.
I'm saying that deciding that medical care that is a matter of life and death should belong in the private for profit industry is what is wrong. Denial of life-saving treatment on the basis of affordability is awkward, and its a symptom of having life-saving medical care being handled by a private insurance industry rather than a government plan.

I think profit is actually a wonderful thing, I've run businesses before and I sold a decent start-up, and every business I got into was profitable. But I would not run a business that profited by denying individuals things I consider basic human rights. I would also like to live in a country where things that were basic human rights were not denied to people.

As for not a lot of profit for the industry, they rank the industry as a sector, which includes all of the various non-profits that attempted to provide services to those who couldn't otherwise get them, and went bankrupt doing so.

Note that you are putting words in my mouth here. The equivalent counterargument would be me claiming you value profit so much you'd sacrifice every moral, belief, relative, ideal and value you have all in the name of the almighty dollar. I don't think that is the case about you, and you shouldn't think the fact that I don't believe in putting profit ahead of human rights means that I think profit is bad.