Programming with purpose

Let's not forget that the more economically successful a society is, the more resources it has to help others, save people, and prevent people from dying. In other words, one can contribute to such causes indirectly, by creating economic value.

What's indeed somewhat questionable is if the only purpose of one's work is to divert some of the money that is moving around in the economy into one's own pocket. The patent troll is probably the purest example of that. But to be honest, I sometimes find it difficult to determine whether an economic activity is more about sucking value or creating value. The line doesn't always seem to be drawn clearly.