By: JamesW

JamesW — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:30:50 +0000

I think “greed” kicks in when money, and/or material objects, become the primary goal. I know a number of entrepreneurs and inventors who come up with ideas, and have them actualized. However, the inventor/entrepreneur’s original goal was not to make gobs of money, but to have their ideas actualized. Money was almost a byproduct, a secondary effect. Admittedly, Capitalism might provide a better system for this actualization to occur, rewarding those who innovate with money, but that alone doesn’t mean that capitalism is innately “good”. Nor does the fact that we are a “wealthy” nation. What we as a country and society DO with that wealth is what is important (providing basic health care and decent education for the folks of our country might be a good start. Pretty much every other first-world country does. I think this is all the voters in the last election were asking for, and in my mind, it not a handout, as suggested in a prior comment, but a basic right for any nation even 1/2 as wealthy as ours (a little “payback” please, for all the hardwork – the reason that we are a wealthy nation – and resulting taxes we’ve pumped into the system. The last election was a revolt about HOW our country is spending it’s wealth. Build and use a few less expensive weapons – which subsequently get blown-up in a war nobody wants, a few less nukes, and maybe heal the sick, etc. with the proceeds. Wow, what a concept!). NOT giving phony non-producers like Fiorina huge amounts of money for failing big-time might also be something to look at ). I think that history still needs to judge whether the capitalist system has been, in the long view, a positive force or a negative force. Right now, I think we hang on the precipice of which direction the balance tips.

By: Erdos2

Erdos2 — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:10:22 +0000

The strange thing is that the “answer” to the question has both positive and negative aspects to it and is found at all levels of society. Actually greed is the reason capitalism has worked so well to build America to be the wealthiest nation in the world. But greed can destroy it too. The problem occurs when it becomes a “give me more” instead of “I want to do this to earn more”. “Give me more” won the last election because when the masses cries it they are a powerful voting block. But it won’t cause jobs to stay in the USA, and in the long run we get a “protected” less. There are plenty of examples of this in California political economics where tax paying jobs are leaving the state, and in comparisons of red vs blue state economies in general (look at unemployment averages for example). One can use greed to complian about things or use greed to build a better place for all. This article says a lot about where the author is in this area.

Comments on: Why “Trickle Down” Theory Doesn’t Work

By: JamesW

By: Erdos2