Greedy pigs

[Experiencer7]

Lets talk about greed. Historical references are ok. But I would rather we keep things topical/contemporary.

 

[dyingsun]

Lets talk about greed. Historical references are ok. But I would rather we keep things topical/contemporary.

How about you start us of with an example ? Here in germany, the milk prices get higher and higher, EU policy.

 

[pixelsmith]

Here in the US we let bankers take our money while we watch stupid dancing and singing shows on TV.

 

[Tom From Hong Kong]

Here in the US we let bankers take our money while we watch stupid dancing and singing shows on TV.

People need to make a choice then and stop watching American Idol and The Real Housewives of Orange County. Then they need to vote to pay higher property taxes so that the local school districts can pay teachers more as well as buy classroom computers -- otherwise vote their representatives out of office so the money being spent on the military can be redirected back to internal investment within the U.S. Bankers get paid more because as a society (a free market) we choose to pay them more than teachers.

So long as you have human beings, you will have greed in some form, as well as fear.

Good night, and good luck.

 

[Simonemendez]

This is a fascinating subject. HUGE and important. The kind of greed where a small few or one, hoard their gain off of the suffering, is UNFATHOMABLE to me. It is truly evil. I am sorta skeptical of an end-of-the-world event, however, I often wonder if the increasing --decrease-- in 'middle class' people everywhere, so that you have a welfare class and billionaires, will come to some kind of a head. And what will that look like? The French revolution? I don't know. I DO know that a steam-filled covered pot will not continue to be contained.

 

[Xylo]

So long as you have human beings, you will have greed in some form, as well as fear.

I disagree, to a point. When a currency is added to an economy, then you will have greed. When the whole of the society works and shares it's work to ensure the survival of that society greed plays a very small part. Unless you count a greedy ego. There are inherent problems with the smaller hunter gatherer societies is one of population size. This system works best with smaller family sized groups.

As far as true greed goes, one only need look at companies like AIG, Enron, or the major oil companies.

Unfortunately, some greed is necessary in a capitalistic society. Greed helps to push innovative thinking, ingenuity and invention. Greed is a tool used by corporations, their execs, the middle managers and the public at large. Have you ever wondered why "the customer is always right?" It has to do with greed. Ever wonder why when you call to cancel your cable or phone service they have a special "retention" department to offer you incentives to stay? The simple answer is greed. Losing customers indicates losing market share, losing market share means less revenue, less revenue means stock prices fall and falling stock prices mean smaller bonuses for execs. Greed, pure and simple.

 

[Frank Stalter]

There is a distinct correlation between runaway executive salaries/golden parachutes for jobs poorly done and free agency in Major League Baseball.

 

[AdamI]

Self-interest is not a bad thing when it comes from a place of genuine self realization.

I remember how much more sense the world made to me when I realized a simple fact: people don't want to be happy. Sure, they say that they do. But what they really want is to win at pointless power games, and they don't notice or care that these games make them miserable and poor.

People don't want to be happy. They aren't motivated by any rational or enlightened sense of self. They want the fleeting reptilian satisfaction of taking someone else's happiness away more than they want their own fulfillment.

I also noticed long ago: yes, people do small evils in the name of (short term) self interest or covering their own behind... but to truly do evil on a huge scale you must have a higher cause. Little piddly evil like accounting fraud might be selfish, but burning millions of people alive is always done in the name of the greater good. Those who commit crimes against humanity generally do so out of a sense of duty and self-sacrifice to god, the state, the race, or some other "higher" entity.

So in a sense I think we could use more greed, not less, but of a higher genuine kind. If only people were greedy enough to ignore their inner reptile in the name of long term prosperity or to selfishly disobey their psychopaths-in-chief in the name of their own self interest. If only the soldiers on the ground that perpetrated all the great holocausts of history had stopped and said "wait a minute, what's in it for me?"

P.S. It is also a myth that psychopaths are selfish. I've dealt with several psychopathic types in the world of business, and they routinely cause great pain and suffering to themselves in pursuit of what amounts to a neurotic compulsion to dominate. An analogy that came to mind was of someone with severe OCD who washes their hands until their skin comes off... a psychopath must dominate even if it destroys them. That's not self-interest. It's insanity. These people have a mental disorder.

 

[Simonemendez]

ignore their inner reptile in the name of long term prosperity or to selfishly disobey their psychopaths-in-chief in the name of their own self interest. If only the soldiers on the ground that perpetrated all the great holocausts of history had stopped and said "wait a minute, what's in it for me

You have put in words what I noticed for a long time. For example, the Iraq invasion was an illegal immoral aggressive imperialist adventure for a handfull of old Neocon politicians. All the while, I listened to ---many--- US media outlets ( especially right wing talk radio) harangue, "Support the troops, support the troops!" I am a (Cold War) military veteran (Two enlistments) but when I learned about all the stories of our own troops torturing and killing innocent Iraqi citizens, (Abugarabe) < probably I misspelled?) remember Lindy English? I don't give a flying saucer if Donald Rummy Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney ordered that I conduct myself thusly, I would shove my hands in my pockets.

 

[AdamI]

You have put in words what I noticed for a long time. For example, the Iraq invasion was an illegal immoral aggressive imperialist adventure for a handfull of old Neocon politicians. All the while, I listened to ---many--- US media outlets ( especially right wing talk radio) harangue, "Support the troops, support the troops!" I am a (Cold War) military veteran (Two enlistments) but when I learned about all the stories of our own troops torturing and killing innocent Iraqi citizens, (Abugarabe) < probably I misspelled?) remember Lindy English? I don't give a flying saucer if Donald Rummy Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney ordered that I conduct myself thusly, I would shove my hands in my pockets.

... then you're a greedy selfish person with no sense of duty to your country!

 

[Simonemendez]

I MADE A MISTAKE, and am sorry for it. Where you referenced if a soldier on the ground stopped and said, whats in it for me? I was thinking, what benefit (morally spiritually etc) is it for me < said "soldier") to participate in conducting horrors upon detainees of another Sovereign Nation which had been unjustly attacked. I think that you were meaning something else much more cynical. I hope I'm not sounding sarcastic here, I was just running on ---little--- sleep last week, and it affects my perception and thinking. (And eyesight....)

 

[Experiencer7]

I disagree, to a point. When a currency is added to an economy, then you will have greed. When the whole of the society works and shares it's work to ensure the survival of that society greed plays a very small part. Unless you count a greedy ego. There are inherent problems with the smaller hunter gatherer societies is one of population size. This system works best with smaller family sized groups.

As far as true greed goes, one only need look at companies like AIG, Enron, or the major oil companies.

Unfortunately, some greed is necessary in a capitalistic society. Greed helps to push innovative thinking, ingenuity and invention. Greed is a tool used by corporations, their execs, the middle managers and the public at large. Have you ever wondered why "the customer is always right?" It has to do with greed. Ever wonder why when you call to cancel your cable or phone service they have a special "retention" department to offer you incentives to stay? The simple answer is greed. Losing customers indicates losing market share, losing market share means less revenue, less revenue means stock prices fall and falling stock prices mean smaller bonuses for execs. Greed, pure and simple.

I must disagree with your' contention that greed drives the economy. Greed contributes nothing. And in the long run cost much. One fat, alpha pig hogging the trough. A farmer has to manage the distribution of feed., lest he end up with an unhealthy herd for market. When did fair play and ethical business practices become an archaic ideal?