The goal of every corporation must be to maximize the present value of future cash flows to its owners. Businesses compete for capital. A business that does not do what will make capital most profitable won’t be able to raise capital and so will fail.

But goals do not imply tactics. If good citizenship wins market share, then good citizenship becomes good business. Consumers and voters have the power to make that the case. When they do, the corporation may change its published “mission” accordingly, but only because the “new” mission maximizes value.

There is nothing scurrilous or cynical in this approach. In a free country, we get the government, police, and vendors we deserve. If 40% of us think Donald Trump should be anywhere near the District of Columbia, we don’t deserve much. So let’s put the blame where Walt Kelly put it all those years ago: we have met the enemy, and he is us.