Corporations, profit, and humanity: Who really pays?

Franciscans salute the working person, whether they are labourers or owners of small and medium-sized businesses. There is respect owed to our fellow human beings. We see God in all of Creation, whether in the wilderness, schools, places of business or our homes. God’s gift to us is a never-ending hope for respect toward one another and our Creator as well.

Are corporations that walk the line between humanity’s needs and the search for profits also accountable to God and God’s people?

According to Canadians for Tax Fairness, Canadian corporate profits reached a record $677 billion in 2025. In the United States, corporate profits reached approximately $4.08 trillion in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. These figures represent enormous economic activity, alongside employment, investment and growth.

So, what is the main purpose behind a corporation?

So, what is the main purpose behind a corporation? Corporations use the earth’s resources (from our land, sea and air) to create products and services that are sold for profit to the global population.

They harvest the earth’s minerals and forests and draw from oceans and other finite resources, including wildlife, energy sources and water. The corporation transforms these resources into products that can be bought and sold.

What happens when the pursuit of profit overwhelms responsibility?

Oceans can become dumping grounds for industrial waste. Forests can be harvested faster than ecosystems can recover. Mineral and energy resources are finite, yet corporations continue searching globally for new sources. The question is whether economic activity can continue without destroying the very systems upon which humanity depends.

This concern becomes even more complicated when corporate interests intersect with governments and geopolitics.

Venezuela offers a contemporary example of the relationship between political power, natural resources and international business interests. The United States has supported a major political and economic intervention in Venezuela, while American companies have increasingly looked toward opportunities in the country’s oil and mining sectors. In 2026, U.S.-based companies secured or pursued agreements involving Venezuelan gold and oil projects following the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro.

The issue is who benefits from them, and who bears the consequences.

National governments often support domestic and multinational corporations, because economic power and national power are deeply connected. China provides a different model, where the Communist Party and the state maintain extensive influence over major sectors of the economy. Describing the Politburo simply as a corporate leadership oversimplifies China’s political system. The more important question is how political authority, state-owned enterprises and private businesses interact in pursuit of national economic power.

The same question can be asked of democratic societies.

Who supports political candidates and parties? How much influence can corporate money exert on public policy? In the United States, major corporations and business leaders have provided substantial financial support to political causes and administrations. During Donald Trump’s return to office, several major companies pledged donations to his inauguration fund, while congressional investigations have examined allegations concerning political donations and promised policy changes involving environmental regulation. These relationships remain politically contested and should not automatically be characterized as proof of a tit for tat.

Historically, powerful corporations have operated across borders

Harvard Law discussions of corporate governance also complicate the idea that a corporation exists only to maximize immediate shareholder profit. Corporate purpose has long been debated between shareholder-focused and stakeholder-focused models. One prominent legal formulation describes the corporation’s purpose as lawful, ethical, profitable and sustainable business that considers shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and communities. Yet the fundamental tension remains.

Historically, powerful corporations have operated across borders, extracting resources, building industries and shaping economies. Today, corporations compete globally for: markets, resources, technology and influence. Private security companies also operate internationally, although they should not all be described as private armies. Garda World, for example, is a Canadian private security company and acquired Aegis Group in 2015. Wagner, by contrast, was a Russian private military organization whose operations included armed deployments and reported involvement in resource extraction.

So, corporations harvest the earth, influence economies and, in some cases, operate alongside governments in environments of conflict and political instability. The question for humanity is what happens when making money becomes more important than protecting people, communities and Creation.

Money before humanity’s needs? Perhaps.