Money

Heard a lady saying that as long as we lived in a money society that greed would rule us. Of course my response was, what are we gonna go back to bartering chickens? I mean all human activity is about greed, and making life suck less.

Sir Pun wrote:Heard a lady saying that as long as we lived in a money society that greed would rule us. Of course my response was, what are we gonna go back to bartering chickens? I mean all human activity is about greed, and making life suck less.

Why do you think that all human activity is about greed? Is greed tied to improving quality of life?

Yes. Anything more than we need is greedy, and all we technically need is food water and shelter. Anything more than a hunter gatherer lifestyle therefore, is greed. Cars, electricity, cell phone, TVs, plumbing. Especially when you consider others dont have these things.

Again, if u want to be technical about it. Our entire civilization is built on greed

Not just on greed. Greed just gets the spotlight. We have all the sins and all the virtues. Wrath, sloth, envy......its all here.

I would rather have an economics system tied to greed rather than the one we have seen over the past century or so. That system is tied to envy more than anything else.

Is greed inherently egoistic?

Egotistical or narcissistic?

Bryant wrote:Is greed inherently egoistic?

No. My greed may stem from my desire to provide for those in my care.

Marconius wrote:

Bryant wrote:Is greed inherently egoistic?

No. My greed may stem from my desire to provide for those in my care.

If its out of desire to provide for others in your care, I posit it isn't really greed.

greed |grēd|
noun
intense and selfish desire for something, esp. wealth, power, or food.
-Apple Dictionary

Sir Pun wrote:Egotistical or narcissistic?

Egoistic and egotistic sound a lot alike but have very different meanings. From the Apple Dictionary -

USAGE The words egoism and egotism are frequently confused, as though interchangeable, but there are distinctions worth noting. Both words derive from Latin : ego (‘I’), the first-person singular pronoun. Egotism, the more commonly used term, denotes an excessive sense of self-importance, too-frequent use of the word 'I,' and general arrogance and boastfulness. Egoism, a more subtle term, is perhaps best left to ethicists, for whom it denotes a view or theory of moral behavior in which self-interest is the root of moral conduct. An egoist, then, might devote considerable attention to introspection, but could be modest about it, whereas an egotist would have an exaggerated sense of the importance of his or her self-analysis, and would have to tell everyone.

You know many psychologists would argue that the only reason we do things for others is to make ourselves feel good, righteous, or just. Taking care of "those in your care" therefore makes you feel like a provider.

Bryant wrote:

Marconius wrote:

Bryant wrote:Is greed inherently egoistic?

No. My greed may stem from my desire to provide for those in my care.

If its out of desire to provide for others in your care, I posit it isn't really greed.

greed |grēd|
noun
intense and selfish desire for something, esp. wealth, power, or food.
-Apple Dictionary

The desire to help others can be selfish.

Think of how smug many feel after they do someone a solid.