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There is definitely a danger in the pursuit of money, at the expense of other values, being immoral. However, to properly examine the morality of seeking profit we need to be very careful in defining our terms. The concepts of profit and morality can lead to a morass of confusion if we're not clear in what exactly profit and morality are. And, each of those terms is quite a complex topic in itself.

Morality is a discussion of right and wrong. But what constitutes right and wrong? This can vary depending on the belief systems of each person, the values of the individual and the collective values of each individual in society.

From the point of view of what people profess, the predominate belief system in the United States, based on the principles espoused by the Enlightenment, is the primacy of the individual. While the actions of the majority of the people in this country are often contrary to that belief this is likely due to confusion about what this really means, not a repudiation of the basic principles.

The importance of the individual, in such a system, is that if each and every individual works to their own benefit, without infringing on the rights of any other individual to do the same, all will benefit. The Enlightenment principles these are based on assert that society is merely a collection of individuals, each of whom is a value in themselves.

With the contention that the individual is the primary component of society we can realize that the individual's actions and values are what determine morality. A free individual working toward their own survival and advancement is inherently moral, so long as that individual does nothing to interfere with another doing the same. The only way for an individual to improperly interfere with another is through the use of force and fraud. As long as individuals only and always deal with one another peacefully and honestly their actions insofar as they support their own values are moral.

With morality defined, we need to understand what profit is in order to determine if it is moral.

The concept of profit is based on a return of value greater than the value invested. Those that wish to denigrate the concept of profit will usually consider profit to only be concerned with material wealth, usually money. This is a very narrow view of wealth, however, that ignores the multitude of values held by individuals. That is a very powerful word, value. It embodies the idea that people hold some things as more important than other

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