Interest purely in profit is true . But human rights , cost cutting , layoffs , pensions , etc . , those are all things our governments do on a regular basis . e . g . , it took 40 years to go from Stonewall to gay marriage being legalized , it took even more years for blacks to gain somewhat equal status in the eyes of the law , etc . e . g . 2 , our politicians keep talking about small government . Well , small government cost cutting , layoffs , pensions , etc . At least with corporations , they DGAF if you ' re gay , black , trans , whatever . If you ' re a productive employee , it has no bearing on their profits . And they ' re likely to give you an effective education too , since they need engineers , scientists , etc . to keep the corporate machine humming . EDIT Oh , also , no committees , hearings , etc . to get new laws passed . If enough people demand that say , gays be treated right , they ' re likely to respond ASAP since they have quarterly profits to make .