The events in Houston recently have made me question capitalism and the free market, specifically the operations in the free market that make America, and Canada, the place that it is.  These free market operations have given our countries growth and prosperity, but also have a flip side as shown by some stores hiking up prices for water and other necessities when people needed them the most, after hurricane Harvey devastated them.  This made me wonder about the validity of “ethical business” while maintaining the intrinsic self interest of the free market.  It seems that increasingly, businesses always go for the more profitable option, and only doing the “right” thing when public outrage or the risk of their choices outweigh their profits.  I feel similarly to Milton Friedman in thinking that there is no such thing as ethical business, as there is no ethical responsibility in business, and therefore only choices made to maximize profits that sometimes align with good morals.  There are also people with different opinions such as R. Edward Freeman, stating stakeholders in a business including workers, employees, and the community, control the actions of business.  However, we can see the suffering community in Houston who hold “stakes” in the businesses of Houston, but are not being taken into consideration and are being price gouged.  The stories of struggling families are hard to hear, but in the context of this class and business ethics, they provide interesting questions of business ethics.  Is it ethical for people to price gouge? Can a free market exist without it?  But more importantly, does ethical business even exist?