The "optimization of shareholder value uber alles" model has been under scrutiny/question for quite some time.
It may not be 100% cleaned up yet but it isn't accurate to portray the entire business community as blind to the dangers or doing nothing in this regard.
Yes. Business comprises a very wide ranges of entities and, on average, the bigger and more monopolistic they get, the worse they're likely to behave. My Dad owned a fairly good-sized dental clinic that served a Medicare/working poor/middle class at most clientele at very reasonable prices. It provided him with a good living, but by no means made him rich even though he worked until about 75, and it also employed 20 or so people. I don't think that the millions of business like his are run by monsters. To me, much is a giant tragedy of the commons where incentives are all screwed up and people act somewhat rationally in response to them.
For example, at a micro-level that adds up when applied to tens of millions of us, a few big sources of economic inequality that start well before we get into the very rich zone include home mortgage interest deductions (need to have enough $ to "own") a home to get one, tax-preferred retirement accounts (need to have enough money to put some away in those and benefit more from them (up to limits) if your marginal income tax rate is higher), preferred tax rates on capital gains (many, maybe most, people don't have any), etc. I don't think I'm an especially bad guy and I don't think any of those things are good for a tax system that should be simple and based on multiple sources of revenue (i.e., sales, property, and income tax) with broad bases and low rates, but I sure as hell take my home mortgage deduction, stuff my 401 (k), and pay only what is required on capital gains because like any other human, I don't want to be a sucker, and I want to provide for me and mine as best I can. I also take advantage of preferential credit card deals (mileage bonuses, cash back ...) even though those are paid for by excessive vendor fees on business and exorbitant punishment of the less fortunate and less money-smart who don't pay the balance off every month.
The upper 1/10 of 1% are absolutely, on average, a sociopathic lot, but millions of guys like me (let's say the top 10-15%) like goosed up market returns and "comfort" enough to have not done more than reflect fretfully on it, and I don't know that that makes us awful or uncaring so much as just living our lives.
