Imagine if a wealthy enclave were adversely affected by a chemical spill. Laws and regulations would be immediately changed and the company would rehab the area and pay dearly for decades to come.

@StillIRise1963 Yes, that's the U.S.A.

Around 1982 young me learned something interesting that I'd never considered before. I'm white and grew up very comfortable, upper middle class, Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Hollywood. Man, did I have a lot to learn.

I'm an engineer and in 1982 I was consulting and became friends with the owner of a company. This guy did quite well but I noticed he was ALWAYS focused on money and profit. It was all that mattered. I adopted a term from him and used it ever since: "net spendable". All that matters in the end of a deal is the net spendable.

So one day I straight out asked him why he was SO obsessed with making money. He immediately replied, "To buy my freedom." What? "In the United States, freedom is not free. You have to buy it and the more money you have the more freedom you can buy."

And I have to say that in the ensuing 40 years I saw what he said confirmed. It's true. It stinks, but it's true.