On Dec 22, 5:35 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
wrote:
> You've had enough?  Have people been calling you greedy and you
> disagree with them?

No, just wanted some clarification on the use of the word is all.

> 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.

Sounds reasonable.
>
> 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.

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