There are few concepts more intentionally misunderstood in American discourse than the broad target of "greed." When politicians fail, and markets falter, and people lose money we can all count on an army of commentators rushing forth to dispense the cause par excellance of all that ails us: greed. Corporate greed, Wall Street greed, five little letters to whip the masses into a frenzy of anger and self-righteousness. Greed unites religious rhetoric with the Marxist variety. It turns a Republican into a populist overnight, and turns a Democrat into a Socialist by lunch.
What a heaping pile of stinking, putrid, vile garbage.
According to the dictionary, "Greed" is "a selfish, excessive desire for more of something than is needed." Fine. This is, after all, a cardinal sin.
What then, does it mean to "desire more of something than is needed?" The Pied Pipers denouncing greed would be well served to open their wee-little minds a crack to ponder that question. I would suggest that "need" for a human being could be defined as the following: 2000 calories per day, 48 oz. of water per day, a dry bed, and enough clothing to maintain an approximate body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. These conditions are what are needed to maintain life. Perhaps the inclusion of a degree of psycho-babble should be allowed: I am willing to include the "need" for 1 other human being for companionship. With these ingredients man could survive, worship his God, and return upon his death to the elements of the planet.
Too harsh? Isn't anything else a selfish, excessive desire for more than one needs? After all, if I desire 2,500 calories, I am robbing 500 calories from another living creature. If I desire water beyond my 48 oz. I am taking water from another. If I secure a living space that keeps not only my bed dry, but my cooking spot as well, I am seeking shelter that another could use. I am being selfish and excessive. I don't "need" any of these luxuries to survive. When food runs short, you can bet my neighbors will demand my extra 500 calories. I am a greedy sonofabitch.
Our world and our great nation have been built by the process of greed. The righteous hunger within each breathing human is to do a bit better than his parents, his neighbor, and his rival. This quest led man to stop wondering and start planting; to stop hunting and start grazing; to give up needle and thread for loom; ox for steam engine; slave for gin; and sweat for thought.
Greed is the quest for the writer to be read, for the poet to be understood, for the artist to be appreciated, the song-writer to be heard, and the athlete to be rewarded. It the quest for the father to give his children their own room, for the mother to prepare more than her family can eat, and for the businessman to sell more than he did last year. It is the quest to stretch the bounds of human accomplishment; to shoot for the moon because we think we can. To make music portable, bathrooms sanitary and indoors, transportation faster and safer. It is the quest to live in climates that are too cold and too hot and too dry. It is the quest to read, watch, and enrich ourselves through song and thought. It is the quest to build temples to our gods, shrines to our heroes, and amusement for our children.
Greed is a trillion steps trod by an army of generations and civilizations in the battle to express the human spirit--which is the Holy Spirit-- on a battlefield of trial and desperation. It is the tears and laughter of Ages. The dreams of those who came before and the promise of those who follow.
The desire for more of something than is needed is the mission of our race, the purpose of our breath, and the reason of our being.
The real sin of excessive want comes in the form of those who have not earned and do not deserve the fruits of others' labor. The leeches who stand ready to suck dry the accomplishments of the intrepid souls who brave the new frontier. The yawning mouths of baby birds who wish to feed on the surplus of others while uselessly taking up space. The victims who count on the blood of heroes to secure their sad and hollow existence.
Let not he who has never created attack the creator. Let not he who has never risked attack the gambler. Let not he who has never added a new thought, an innovation, or an efficiency criticize those who reach beyond, imagine the best, and strive for the better.
To those impotent, cynical, parasitic drones who lash out at the game changers and the front line capitalists who rise and fall on their initiative, creativity, and luck; who bring us iPods, and the Internet, and hybrid cars; who save our lives with mind-boggling chemistry; who keep us in touch with cell phones I say: all you really need is to eat, sleep, and die.
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3 comments:
I hope you have taken a breath. But I love that you get feisty, my friend. I can't help but have a grin, and I'm sorry for this, because if I was looking at your face you may seem rather pissed.
And I think you are right. Greed abounds, so we must be careful in doing the whole blame game on greed alone. But really Chad, what does America's financial and home mess boil down to then? Give me some very specific examples...Was it poor executive decisions? I don't understand enough...
I do understand that I see tons and tons of people living out of their means, thus having to foreclose. What is this? Well, greed. I worked for a CO mortgage company that prided itself of being one of the few that did not get a customer a loan he/she could not afford. Getting someone a loan they cannot afford so you (as a broker) make a bigger commission is...well....drum roll please...greed. And Chad, I have to believe that this kind of greed (in both instances) has lead to at least some of the crisis.
So we can sit here and talk all day about consuming my neighbors 500 calories (and I see your point) and indeed, I am a selfish (trust me), but what can the whole mess be boiled down to really? This isn't necessarily a finger pointing game (hey, you are a greedy toad and I am not), because as you stated, we are all greedy. But across the board, doesn't a lot of the mess boil down to greed?
To me Chad, we have become such a land of image and this whole mess so clearly depicts this. Doesn't image boil down to greed too?
Have I pissed you off yet? :)
P.S. I've never heard it said, but I think you put it to words well regarding social engineering and regulation being the real difinition of greed.
I am pissed and my views may be outside the mainstream. Oh well. Let me start by saying: people will act to the limits of the system they are given. When the government creates regulations and taxes it also unwittingly creates loopholes and exceptions. Human being will--and God bless us all SHOULD-- seek to better themselves. I fundamentally believe this. Period.
If the private sector is left alone--a HUGE 'IF'-- excess gets corrected. If you try to gain too much for yourself at someone else's expense, you will fall short.
BECAUSE everyone, everyone, everyone acts in his/her self-interest, we all balance each other out. This is the brilliance of capitalism. NO ONE IS IN CONTROL. But our competing intersts insure that no one runs away with the bank.
It is only through force, that one person can obtain his/her selfishness at the expense of another.
If I want to get more food than I need, you may want more money from me--this seems fair. If I burnish a gun, the math changes: suddenly you MUST give me the food because I have more FORCE.
In our system the ultimate force is the government. People have discovered the power to use the force of the government to profit themselves. THIS IS WRONG. Some of these are Wall St. bankers using government tax law to their ultimate benefit. Some of these are welfare recipients gaming the system--both are wrong.
Self-interst is a force for good. It is. It is the very life-blood of the human race. Only when ONE party can gain his/her objectives by FORCEFULLY taking from another do we sin.
OK, now that makes a lot more sense to me. And I guess I didn't understand some of this, though I know fundamentally that when the Government gets involved, things get messed up.
I didn't even think about situations like wall street brokers taking advantage of the tax law when it came to this particular situation.
I don't know Chad. I'm going to mull this over more, but I tell you...though I understand that we should all seek to better ourselves and that the primary driving force of capitilism at its best is greed, I still say that too much of anything is bad. And when money and self self self is all that is thought of, it will ultimately lead to bad as well. When brokers willingly and unethically got a customer approved for a loan that the broker knew the customer couldn't realistically afford just to self-promote and make more money, I just see this kind of greed as wrong. Wrong. And it is very much greed.
Can there be a good form and a bad form of greed? Hmm...that's something to think about. And Chad, can this 'everyone acts in self interest, we'll balance each other out' really be good in every situation (ie: friendship or marriage), or is it only applicable to capitalism? And how does one compartmentalize so easily if so? Maybe it's a tangent, but I just have a hard time compartmentalizing, as most women I guess.
Thx
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