We are all merely resources to corporations, politicians and law enforcement.
Consumer
It really is us the people that they are afraid of.
I would say that’s a rather cynical way to view the world (others would say it’s just a factual perspective). But if you view this scenario from that perspective, there’s no logical reason that you shouldn’t also view the relationships you have with your own spouse/parents/children/friends... the same way.
With a corporation or politician? Not so much.
However whether reciprocity was involved doesn’t at all change the existence of a self-interested motive. It’s simply irrelevant.
Furthermore, in this case there was reciprocity. In this instance the big corporate interests were selling a product for which doctors had a demand to treat their patients. You’re welcome to have an opinion about the integrity and value of that reciprocity, but that goes for anybody in regards to any relationship. A cynical person could come to that conclusion about any relationship, and offer you a justification for it supported entirely by a leading thesis from the field of ethics.
Absolutely. And while such attitudes are not incredibly widespread, there are enough folks who do so that we have a name for exhibiting such behavior. We call it Narcissistic Personality Disorder[0].
Which is a terrible thing to do of course, as it stigmatizes a whole group of people that just want to live their lives and use the the objects in their environment to their advantage. What's bad with that?
[0] https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-disorders/narcissi...
People have debated for a very long time whether a person who derives satisfaction from benefitting others is truely motivated by the benefit of others, or simply the benefit of themselves by way of that satisfaction. A narcissist is a completely different thing. They would not derive satisfaction from benefitting others, for reasons such as their narcissistic lack of empathy.
"relieve personal distress (e.g. discomfort from the situation),
avoid self-punishment (e.g. feelings of guilt),
avoid social-punishment (e.g. looking bad to others),
obtain rewards from self or others (e.g. praise, pride),
gain a mood-enhancing experience (e.g. feel glad someone was helped)."[1]
I’d also suggest that this comment would also necessarily include dismissing just about every psychologist, philosopher or ethicist who studies the nature of self-interested motives as being a sociopath as well.
If you really wanted to be cynical however, I’d suggest you start by asking who’s benefitting from us having this conversation. I’d say it’s the regulators, and to a greater extent the executives who have been in charge of those regulators, who are the people statutorily responsible for these failures. I can’t imagine how happy they’d be with us debating how culpable big pharma and their management consultants are for it.
My favorite local breakfast place only serves me because I pay, but I forgot my wallet one time and they just waived the charge. There's a spectrum between altruism and exploitation, and it's important we put pressure on large organizations to stay away from the exploitation end because it's clear some won't do it on their own.
There's three important attributes of resources. Firstly, resources of a same type, defined by their use, are fungible. Secondly, resources are a means to an end. Lastly, resources are valuable either because of their uses or because they can be exchanged.
Now, love, fulfillment, and the feeling of friendship realize neither of the three properties. Neither does a wife or a friend.
Because of that, I don't think one can say that every relationship a person has is based on nothing more than resources. Personal relationships are categorically different.
Additionally, unlike material relationships, personal relationships are most healthy and effective when they are between equals.
If you look at cities/modern civilization, it's really no different from an industrial farm. People who run industrial farms are focused on the production of the livestock - aka the productive value of each head of cattle, each chicken, etc. People who run cities are focused on the production of every head of human.
Notice the uptick in "How do I get more productive", "I've had a productive day today", etc? Doesn't it seem like it's all about productivity? Are you meeting your potential - have you been as productive as you could be today?