The document discusses the relationship between profits and poverty. It argues that there is a false dichotomy between the two, as profits are necessary for businesses to operate and provide jobs, while lack of profits leads to business failures and increased poverty. However, it also acknowledges that solely focusing on profits is misguided, and that companies should also consider other human and moral factors in how they operate. Overall, the document aims to provide a nuanced perspective that recognizes the importance of profits but also stresses the need to prioritize people over profits.

2.  In a 2013 lecture, Pope Francis urged his audience to
solidarity with the poor and marginalized. This is one
of the most consistent and laudable emphasizes of
his pontificate. But sometimes what is seen
overshadows what is not seen. “If you break a
computer it is a tragedy,” said Francis, and he
continued:

3.  … but poverty, the needs, the dramas of so many
people end up becoming the norm. If on a winter’s
night, here nearby in Via Ottaviano, for example, a
person dies, that is not news. If in so many parts of
the world there are children who have nothing to
eat, that’s not news, it seems normal. It cannot be
this way! Yet these things become the norm: that
some homeless people die of cold on the streets is
not news. In contrast, a ten point drop on the stock
markets of some cities, is a tragedy.

4.  To Francis, this is because “men and women are
sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption.”
Profits should not be more important than people.
Waste is bad stewardship. The plight of the poor
deserves more regular media attention. Solidarity is
a virtue. All of these things are true, yet, there is also
the good side of profit.

5.  There is a false dichotomy here between profits and
poverty. Stock markets measure company value,
which is related to profit but not the same, and
people can idolize that. Yet, without profit
companies go out of business, all of the people who
work for them lose their jobs, and poverty grows. As
Adam Smith put it, “it is only for the sake of profit
that any man employs a capital in the support of
industry” in the first place.

6.  Profit is the leftover when revenues exceed
expenses. If there is no profit, it means companies
can’t pay their bills. Without profit there is no
industry, and without industry there are no jobs.
Profits do not require our ignoring the poor. The
poor will continue to be poor without profits. Rightly
understood, concern for the stock market may in
fact be concern for the poor on a massive scale.

7.  One of the main purpose of profits is simply to keep
businesses alive. Without profit companies go out of
business, all of the people who work for them lose
their jobs, and poverty grows. Companies will need
to sell capital to pay them, and if that is not enough
they will need to file for bankruptcy to renegotiate
their debts. In either case, the company is done, and
everyone who works for it will soon be unemployed.

8.  Furthermore, profits are often also used to invest in
other companies. Typically both employers and
employees contribute to them. Unless the employee
chooses to invest only in government bonds, they
will be using some of their income and some of the
company’s profit (now an expense) to contribute to
other enterprises in an economy, making more
products, more profits, and more jobs possible.

9.  Without profits, business would be impossible and
without business, there are no jobs. The alternative
to profits is universal poverty. That is exactly what
we can see in dystopian dictatorships: the otherwise
unseen effects of taking away both profits and
private property.

10.  Islam acknowledges the legitimate role of profit as
an indication that a business is functioning well.
When a firm makes a profit, this means that
productive factors have been properly employed
and corresponding human needs have been duly
satisfied. But profitability is not the only indicator of
a firm’s condition.

11.  It is possible for the financial accounts to be in order,
and yet for the people—who make up the firm’s
most valuable asset—to be humiliated and their
dignity offended. In fact, the purpose of a business
firm is not simply to make a profit, but is to be found
in its very existence as a community of persons who
in various ways are endeavouring to satisfy their
basic needs, and who form a particular group at the
service of the whole of society.

12.  Profit is a regulator of the life of a business, but it is
not the only one; other human and moral factors
must also be considered which, in the long term, are
at least equally important for the life of a
business. Rightly sought and understood, profits are
a good thing.

13.  Theologically speaking, such wholesome profit is
what happens when people fulfill the command to
be fruitful.
"Allah has blighted usury and made almsgiving fruitful.
Allah loves not the impious and guilty." (Qur'an: 2:276)

14.  As Adam Smith dryly put it, “The produce of industry
is what it adds to the subject or materials upon
which it is employed. In proportion as the value of
this produce is great or small, so will likewise be the
profits of the employer.”

15.  When people profit from the creation of new
wealth, it is because they take the world God has
given us and make something more of it for the
good of others and for God’s glory. It would be
shameful to throw that away.