Public service comes from honest profits.

A couple of articles by one Tjaco Walvis suggest that profits should not be the sole motive of any company. Apparently Alexander was the richest man in history with wealth exceeding $200 billion at today's rates but in those days a person was expected to attain bankruptcy by losing all his wealth through conspicuous consumption. Western religions discouraged charging interest on loans until the 16th century when a theologian suggested that interest was merely a substitute for loss of income that could be earned through other investments. So it was an ' opportunity cost '. For all our talk of spiritualism we Indians are extremely materialistic. We should embrace ' Karma Yoga ' which means action for the greater good. This apparently is what is written in the Bhagavad Gita. Is it? The Gita is all about Krishna urging Arjun to fight against people he loves, his guru, his grand-uncle and his cousins, because that is his duty. Krishna tells Arjun that he must fight to win, which means that Krishna is urging Arjun to kill as many as he can. If Arjun wins then it will be a victory for Dharma. However, Krishna also cautions him that although his side is sure to win Arjun himself could be killed in battle so he should fight without any expectations. So, on the one hand Arjun is expected to fight with all his might to win but, on the other, he should not expect his own victory. We must work and, since work cannot be aimless, we must have a goal in mind. But we must work for Dharma which means for the greater good. How can that be possible? Surely all of us cannot be ' jholawalla ' do-gooders, going round trying to help others? A company must make profits or else it will go bankrupt and its employees will lose their jobs. That will cause suffering for their dependents. The most important thing is that the company should make money by serving its customers. Unfortunately that does not happen in India. Most of our businesses are owned by families who have made their wealth due to their close links with politicians. Since they spend vast amounts to get licenses they look for short term profits. We have 3 levels of politicians, the center, state and municipal and all of them are in politics to fill their pockets. On the one hand politicians extort money from businesses for private pleasure while they extort money from us in taxes to bribe voters. Even in the US where the rule of law is well established people are so sick of politicians that two-thirds did not vote in the last elections. Indians do not trust businesses at all so they do not invest in shares. Forcing companies to spend 2% of profits for social responsibility is just show. Good business is making profits by giving the best goods and services at best prices. That is karma yoga.