Redirect Ambition, Don't Abolish Profit

Ambition and the pursuit of status are ineradicable human motives; outlawing profit‑seeking simply shifts those motives into other, often hidden or more destructive, currencies (virtue, patronage, factional prestige). Public policy should therefore focus on channeling and reshaping incentives — changing rules, ownership, and accountability — rather than attempting to eliminate ambition or profit per se. — If correct, this shifts debates from abolitionist rhetoric (ban profit) to practical design questions (how to rechannel ambition through governance, taxation, ownership structures, and reputational institutions).