> It's a consequence of any insufficiently regulated industry where the penalty for fraud is less than the profit of fraud. It's a fundamental feature of capitalism when untethered from objective assessments of value.
That is not a feature or consequence of capitalism. Fraud exists in any economic system, and the punishments for fraud are independent of the economic system itself.
> I hope people understand that this is actually a religious point, not a scientific one. The science says quite the opposite.
Science can say whatever it wants, if you look at our world objectively, it's quite plain to see people are motivateed primarily by economic forces.
For instance, in the following article [1] (top relevant, second overall google search result for 'why buy an electric car'):
>Q: Why should someone should go out and buy an electric car right now?
> A: They can make a huge contribution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions—that's the most important reason. There are advantages in terms of going into the carpool lane. Electric vehicles are becoming (price) competitive with internal combustion engines. In our report we looked at the life-cycle cost of ... electric cars, hybrid electric cars, gas-powered cars and we found that, for example, the Nissan Leaf and the Smart car are competitive right now even without (government) incentives. What's driving down the cost of EVs is the reduction in the cost of the battery. Another important point is that the maintenance is minimal.
There are several reasons given. All but the first are clearly economic reasons meant to persuade people into buy an electric car. I believe this to be because, in the opinion of the answer, buying an electric vehicle has positive economic incentives that the reader might not recognize immediately, and they are providing a case for overall economic benefit to the purchaser.
The first point is not immediately about economics, but I argue that it is indirectly. The best way to decrease your carbon footprint is to not have a car and to sleep outdoors. Of course, that is not an economically viable or desirable option for most people. These people have made a self-interested economic decision to own a personal conveyance that operates on public highways at the expense of carbon emissions.
There will always be a cross section of personal motivations (tastes, preferences) and economic self interest. The wealthy can afford to pursue the former at the expense of the latter; the average person will be more adherent to economic self interest in for the future or marginal pursuance of the former.
[1] https://phys.org/news/2018-02-shouldand-shouldntbuy-electric...