As it happens, that&#x27;s precisely the reason why public corporations exist: the greater good.<p>That this has been forgotten and replaced with unilateral and antisocial concerns like &quot;increase shareholder value at all costs&quot; is an accident along the way. There is no reason why that can&#x27;t be corrected.<p>Public corporations exist for the good of the public and are basically funded by the public - even more so if they are largely owned by pension funds.<p>My point, that being said, was not that this is straightforward. It is clearly not an easy step from public corporation to charity. However, that is a slightly easier step than from VC owned private company to charity, because VCs are very clear about wanting one thing only: capital gains, and they are not equivalent to &quot;the public&quot;.