Reply #8: But it isn't all about profit.

[aquart]

Because so much of what is done destroys profit and profit potential. There is more profit to be had in allowing homesteading in abandoned housing than there is in letting neighborhoods go to rack and ruin while buildings decay from lack of care.

If profit were the only motive, slaves on board ships bound for the Americas would have been better treated so that they could be sold hale and hearty for good money upon arrival. Animals being brought to the New World were treated as good as they could be. But something else is going on. An hysterical over-justification for bad behavior to cover the guilty knowledge that this is NOT what good men do.

If profit were indeed the only motive, it would be much easier to sell projects that benefit neighborhoods and communities, and ensure the well-being of the nation.