Welcome to the group Nanook,, Allan On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 6:16 PM, TheRealNanook <[email protected]> wrote:
> I’m new to the group. I hope it’s OK to join the discussion near it’s > starting point. > > I think the word greed explains a lot of the tragedy that we see in > society today. We could address that tragedy better if we saw the > contribution that greed was making to it. > > My first point is that greed has been known to be a problem for a long > time. It is often listed as the second of the SEVEN DEADLY SINS. Why > this is important is because I believe the Seven Deadly Sins can > explain most of problems in human society due to human psychology. I > spend a lot of time on this in my books if anyone wants to explore > this further. > > Second, I think the discussion got off on the wrong foot. We need to > read Webster’s definition more carefully. It says, “more of something > than is NEEDED.” Specifically, this phrasing does not limit greed to > the environment of a single person. In fact, what makes greed, and all > the Seven Deadly Sins, rank so highly as human faults is their SOCIAL > expression in a social context. The first example is a good example to > explore this. > > If a person, who lives in an expensive tenement in NYC spends a > million dollars on a painting, it may not be greed. But if the same > person happens to live in one of the few surviving houses in Haiti, > while people are starving to death in the street outside his front > door, then society would label that greed. If the same millionaire, in > Haiti, stockpiled just 2 weeks worth of groceries, an amount that no > one in most of the U.S. would even blink at, while everyone else was > living hand to mouth, society would label that greed. > The point is, this directly contradicts the notion stated in the first > post that, “NOBODY can judge what another person finds important ...” > The whole concept of greed, and the other SINS, is based on its social > implications. > > To make the meaning of greed clear, as used in society, Webster’s > definition needs a few more words: a selfish and excessive desire for > more of something than is needed IN THE OPINION OF SOCIETY. And that’s > the stickler! > Look how this point comes into play in the last paragraph of the > post. It says, “if you have REASONABLE plans for every single > dollar? THAT IS NOT GREED...” The devil is in the word “reasonable”. > And what society means by reasonable is what SOCIETY accepts as > reasonable. > > The reason this is so important right now is how it will play out as > the mortgage disaster starts to really unwind. Note well, this > disaster is NOT about houses. It’s about the people thrown into the > street. To date, the banks have thrown the equivalent of 6 Haiti > earthquakes of U.S. adults and children into the street. They will > create the equivalent of another Haiti of homeless people every 3 > months in 2011! And what is it that they want? PROFITS!: to get back > to the level of bonuses they got before the crash. > > For those interested, you can read more at > http://www.a3society.org/7%20Deadly%20Sins > > > On Dec 12 2010, 4:55 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. > -- ( ) I_D Allan If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
