I think you are correct. We can only judge ourselves. Eating more food then you need is gluttony, btw. Guilty. Hording might be considered greedy I suppose if you're hording what others need now and you are unlikely to need it for yourself and yet you still refuse to sell it to or trade to others that need it more then you.
Taking or buying or collecting or working for only what you need sounds like a really boring life to me. I want more then what I need. For me and the ones I love. If that is greed then greed is good. Settling for just what you need all your life will leave you and yours wallowing in mediocrity and relative poverty. I'll leave that to the pious. I'll wallow in my greed. dj On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 7:35 AM, [email protected] < [email protected]> wrote: > You've had enough? Have people been calling you greedy and you > disagree with them? > > Greed is the desire for more than you need. You are correct I think, > that ones needs can only really be suitably defined by the person in > need. Art I think must be treated differanlty than say food. > > If you have enough food and yet desire more, this is greed, easpecily > when you have so much that most gets wasted. > > Perhaps then we should talk in terms of supply and waste. If it your > goal to accumilate so much money that you cannot hope to spend it all > in your lifetime, then I would also call that greed. So intent, > supply, and waste. > > > > On Dec 12, 9:55 am, BB47 <[email protected]> wrote: > > The word “greed” is tossed out so often and it always intrigues me > > just what people mean by it. Just what is “greed?” Some people (no > > names) toss this word off their fingertips all the time and frankly I > > HAVE HAD ENOUGH. > > > > Webster defines this word as… > > : a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than > > is needed. > > > > Ok, let’s take a more careful look at that definition. Let’s say a > > very rich person spends a million dollars on a painting that he just > > loves. He thinks this painting is so remarkable, so beautiful, that > > he is willing to buy it for a million dollars so he can look at it > > every day in his house. Me personally? I would never spend a > > million dollars on a painting, but that is just me. That painting, or > > ANY painting, is not something I am interested in buying at that > > price, even if I was filthy rich. But the things that I buy would > > curl your hair as they might seem so “strange” to YOU, but not to me. > > Everybody is different, and this is a very important thing to > > consider. NOBODY can judge what another person finds important, > > interesting, beautiful, desirable, or worthwhile. (Just look at your > > hairstyle…smily thingee goes here) > > > > The question is…is that greed? I don’t think so. Is buying anything > > that one does not “need” greed? Hell no! you better check your > > inventory of your life if that is the case, you would find that every > > human on earth is greedy, and therefore the definition is rendered > > meaningless. The definition clearly states “an EXCESSIVE desire for > > MORE of SOMETHING” > > > > This says to me that greed is only achieved when you already HAVE > > “enough” of this particular “thing” and yet you want more anyway. You > > want more than you can actually “benefit” from because you already > > have “it” THAT is greed. When you “hoard” something for no reason, > > and NOT when you simply “want” something that you don’t have. Wanting > > something IS NOT GREED. Get that through your fricking head. Wanting > > something that is not “needed” is not greed. Wanting something you > > already have plenty of is greed. > > > > Which brings us, inevitably, to money. Money can be turned into > > ANYTHING, so one cannot say that you have a quantity of this > > particular one “thing” that meets the classic definition of greed, > > UNTIL YOU CLARIFY IT. It is not “one thing” it is “anything I can > > think of” so it must be treated slightly differently. Now, if you > > want a billion dollars but your actual, realistic “wants and needs” > > are only a million dollars, then you are greedy. But if you have > > reasonable plans for every single dollar? THAT IS NOT GREED, THAT IS > > PERFECTLY NORMAL GODDAMIT. >
