I used to believe in "The Dumbest Idea in the World" because I went to business school, and business schools all teach "The Dumbest Idea in the World" as undisputed fact.
I am truly very fortunate that soon after graduating business school, I had a conversation with my best friend and best man, where I confidently parroted my business school professors' proclamations that "The only responsibility of any businessperson, and of any business, is to maximize shareholder value". He pondered this for a moment, looked at me thoughtfully and replied, "Maybe it shouldn't be."
I was instantly blown away. Seldom has the mere suggestion of considering the alternative been so effective in completely changing my worldview.
I'm often thankful that he helped me shake off a horrible philosophy that's led to much human suffering.
OP, this column made me indescribably happy. I found that he and I are not alone in rejecting this principle that universally is taught in every business school in America. In fact, if you Google "The Dumbest Idea in the World", you will get pages and pages of economists and CEOs indeed labeling the idea this way. I never knew this or thought to Google it until I saw this reddit post.
Hopefully it makes some people think like my friend made me think 15 years ago.
If you want to share this thought with conservative folks, here are some sources conservatives are less likely to dismiss than The Daily Kos:
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2009/db20090316_630496.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/24/business/davos-shareholder-value-is-dumbest-idea/index.html