What value is there in educating if one can simply purchase social capital when one needs it?
Exhibit A: http://www.facebook.com/BPTeamUSA
Exhibit B: http://www.altria.com/en/cms/Responsibility/investing-in-com...
Plenty of people pay rent and eat well and aren't complicit in scams and get-rich-quick schemes. Plenty of people have jobs that pay well and don't pander to the lowest common denominator and reinforce ignorance...
I am pointing out the fact that within a system of social organization which allows "material capital" to be easily convertible to "social capital" this type of behavior will always exist. Moreover, in most cases it will be a superior social/business strategy.
Consider a hypothetical example. Evil Company X can do a "socially harmful" thing Y and make Z dollars or a "socially beneficial" thing W and make V dollars. Well, if Z - [the cost of whitewashing] > V, why not do it?
Furthermore, should the CEO of ECX opt to do V and forego greater profits, investors of X would be well-justified to vote for his removal at the subsequent board meeting. After all, the CEO was not representing THEIR best interests...
Mostly everyone is a criminal, if you've gotten a city parking ticket you're a criminal.
If you've let your meter run out but didn't get caught it's still criminal. Didn't wear your seatbelt? Criminal.
Were you having a bad day but when you talked to the city clerk you told them it was going well? You're a criminal.
Altria sells a product that is harmful to people's health while providing other benefits, like most other products including car manufactures, coffee shops, etc.
Does Altria break a criminal statute? It's pretty much inevitable that they do.
Would I characterize them as a criminal enterprise? No.
Some people are far more concerned about living life than prolonging death. If you don't like cigarettes don't smoke.