GREED!!!

[Trade]

The salaries of athletes or entertainers don't concern me.

I have a choice there. If the ticket to a baseball game is too expensive I don't have to go. Baseball players would starve to death if they had to depend on what I am willing to pay to watch a game. Likewise if the price of a movie or whatever is too high, I can live without it just fine. I spend $8.99 a month on netflix. I doubt any movie stars are getting rich on my contribution.

On the other hand if I get really sick or injured and the doctors, or the hospital, or the drug company, or the insurance company charges outrageous prices my choice is to pay them or suffer and possibly die. So I consider them extortionists. Basicly no better than what the Mafia does when they sell you "protection".

 

[C'est Moi]

One, example of greed, and there are several, in our state and fed bureaucracies is ‘empire building.’ The more ‘underlings’ the bureaucrats can add under their jurisdiction the more power they obtain. Greed and power, in govt are synonyms, our military, especially those in the pentagon answer only to their cliques

Our politician playing with our lives to obtain power…

What a depressing topic, need to come up for air.

Politics are not allowed here, and I can't imagine why you keep repeating this same post.

 

[jerry old]

Politics are not allowed here, and I can't imagine why you keep repeating this same post.

politicos are not representatives of govt, they are individuals who honed their skills, ambitions usually on the county level, there agenda has little to do with anything regarding government, except to continue their 'good times. There are politicos: begreifen?

 

[Keesha]

Hasn't affected my life
I'm content

I've found, being in a giving mode, for the less fortunate, greed disappears
Thankfulness, from the receiver and giver, occurs
Greed cannot exist in the realm of the thankful

Contentment trumps greed in any form

That’s right.
Giving and receiving become one and the same when you pay it forward.

Greed is dark, cold & ugly.
Contentment trumps greed in any form.
An attitude with gratitude is life changing.

 

[Gary O']

Greed is dark

Light can penetrate darkness
Darkness cannot find a place in light
(it's a scientific fact.... and a Christian thing)

 

[Keesha]

Light can penetrate darkness
Darkness cannot find a place in light
(it's a scientific fact.... and a Christian thing)

Yes. I like it and can so relate.
You are absolutely right.

 

[fmdog44]

Bernie Madoff has to be America's greatest scoundrel ruining thousands of lives and so many were elderly trusting him to care for their money in the retirement years.
Irving Picard, the trustee who is recovering funds for Madoff's victims, has recovered $13.3 billion of the $17.5 billion investors orginally entrusted to Madoff, Yahoo Finance reported.

 

[jerry old]

how did we forget about Madoff,
did not know 13.3 had been recovered
any theories about motive?
Why didn't he stop after his first one, two million?

 

[Shalimar]

Ann Rand had the hardest concept of individualism I ever read. She scared me, still does.

Me too, ironic that she died poor, financially dependent on the state

 

[Keesha]

How many give back portions of their pay, because they recieved too much?

My husband.

 

[StarSong]

A heart surgeon save my dad’s life and he lived 25 additional years before dying in his sleep. That guy I am sure wasn’t paid any more than five or $600,000 it’s ridiculous to think that these guys that throw balls and bounce balls are making so much more money than this guy who saved my father’s life and probably hundreds like him, it’s disgusting

Here's the thing about doctors. They stand on the shoulders of those who came before them. Rare indeed is the doc who reinvents the wheel.

I'm delighted for your father's positive outcome, LC, but whatever his doctor did was probably not extraordinary within the world of modern cardiology. It merely seems miraculous to us because it's out of our field of expertise. To look at it another way: A journeyman electrician's expertise prevents homes from catastrophic fires, but they aren't paid anywhere near what this doc gets for a surgery - even though an electrician wired that doc's home so that he and his family would be safe. Equally life-saving, but nowhere near equally rewarded.

Imagine if docs were only paid for positive outcomes. I'm sure the oncologist 911 referenced saw many patients die. Does he still get paid for those? (Of course, as well he should).

As for docs being on call 24/7/365 - those days are mostly gone. Perhaps in extremely rural areas, where they're the only doctors within 50 miles, but otherwise not so much. Particularly not if they're part of a medical group or associated with a larger hospital.

My point is that all of us contribute mightily to each other's lives, but some professions are valued and compensated far too little and others far too much.

 

[Aunt Bea]

It's kind of funny that the person paying the bill for a service usually thinks it's too high and the person providing the service usually thinks it's a bargain.

I think that when it comes right down to it greed is more of a mindset/attitude than anything else.

IMO the people that expect the government or the rich to support them and take care of them are just as greedy as the wealthy misers that grab the sugar packets from the table at the diner or always forget to leave a tip.

 

[AnnieA]

I shake out on the side of condemning most MD's as greedy bastards. My last wife was an RN, my gf is in medical billing. I've seen things up close, and personal.

We talk about the healthcare crisis, yet very few call it like it is: It starts with greedy doctors and hospitals and insurance execs. They're all in bed, together. Talk to an MD for ten minutes, get a bill for $250! GREED!

You left out the sleazy pharmaceutical industry that throws more lobbying dollars at the US Congress than any other industry. I'm not sure they're not the worst of the lot. The EpiPen scandal is the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Lc jones]

Here's the thing about doctors. They stand on the shoulders of those who came before them. Rare indeed is the doc who reinvents the wheel.

I'm delighted for your father's positive outcome, LC, but whatever his doctor did was probably not extraordinary within the world of modern cardiology. It merely seems miraculous to us because it's out of our field of expertise. To look at it another way: A journeyman electrician's expertise prevents homes from catastrophic fires, but they aren't paid anywhere near what this doc gets for a surgery - even though an electrician wired that doc's home so that he and his family would be safe. Equally life-saving, but nowhere near equally rewarded.

Imagine if docs were only paid for positive outcomes. I'm sure the oncologist 911 referenced saw many patients die. Does he still get paid for those? (Of course, as well he should).

As for docs being on call 24/7/365 - those days are mostly gone. Perhaps in extremely rural areas, where they're the only doctors within 50 miles, but otherwise not so much. Particularly not if they're part of a medical group or associated with a larger hospital.

My point is that all of us contribute mightily to each other's lives, but some professions are valued and compensated far too little and others far too much.

My fathers cardiologist was very well-trained and saved my father’s life and I am eternally grateful to him I don’t have to go into any further detail the result is obvious and without need for discussion and dissent.

 

[chic]

As Celine said in Before Sunset: "Not wanting anything. . . Isn't that a symptom of depression? It's very human to desire." Is having everything for doing nothing the best way to live? To quote Celine again: "Well then I think desire is the fuel of life. Do you think it's true that we'd never be unhappy if we never wanted anything?"

Yes, If we never wanted anything because we already had it all?

 

[chic]

That’s right.
Giving and receiving become one and the same when you pay it forward.

Greed is dark, cold & ugly.
Contentment trumps greed in any form.
An attitude with gratitude is life changing.

Gratitude changes nothing at the end of the day if you're homeless, ill, uneducated and hungry with no end in sight and no way out. That's just negative gratitude. It makes nothing better.

 

[Gary O']

Gratitude changes nothing at the end of the day if you're homeless, ill, uneducated and hungry with no end in sight and no way out.

Very true
However, it can be a start
A seed
I've worked with the homeless, ill, uneducated, hungry
For the most part, it's true, they continue with their insurmountable plight
But there have been some
Some that have come up to me years later
We then share our joys
Nothing really like it
Maybe heaven....maybe

 

[Keesha]

Very true
However, it can be a start
A seed
I've worked with the homeless, ill, uneducated, hungry
For the most part, it's true, they continue with their insurmountable plight
But there have been some
Some that have come up to me years later
We then share our joys
Nothing really like it
Maybe heaven....maybe

That’s right.

 

[Keesha]

Gratitude changes nothing at the end of the day if you're homeless, ill, uneducated and hungry with no end in sight and no way out. That's just negative gratitude. It makes nothing better.

How do you know?
I’ve met people who didn’t have enough money to rub two sticks together while they looked after their blind diabetic mother who had two legs amputated.

Pushing her down the road in a shopping cart laughing with more joy than the millionaire CEO who has selfishly stashed every penny away.
There was plenty of gratitude and not one soul could convince me that it made no difference to their lives. I know it made a difference to mine. ❤

 

[win231]

I shake out on the side of condemning most MD's as greedy bastards. My last wife was an RN, my gf is in medical billing. I've seen things up close, and personal.

We talk about the healthcare crisis, yet very few call it like it is: It starts with greedy doctors and hospitals and insurance execs. They're all in bed, together. Talk to an MD for ten minutes, get a bill for $250! GREED!

I'm so surprised at your honesty, I had to read your post 3 times to believe it. Usually, anyone with relatives in the medical profession isn't capable of such candidness - they usually defend anything a doctor does - much like police officers defend anything a police officer does.

 

[MeAgain]

In this country. food clothing and shelter should be free. If you want a car, boat, or luxuries you pay. High speed rail or other mass transportation across and around the country should be in place by now. There should be a cap on how much money and assets any one person may hoard. No one needs multiple billions of dollars. Go over the amount set for the cap, it goes into the food clothing and shelter fund. No exceptions. Healthcare should be on a sliding scale. Can't make a payment? Lower the payment. Lifesaving drugs should dispensed at the doctor's office as needed. There should be a healthy lifestyles branch to every medical practice, with a gym in the basement and daily walks or other forms of exercise scheduled. Again payment for the service on a sliding scale for the individual. Amen

Nothing is free. Some other person is slave to the beggar.

 

[MeAgain]

Bernie Madoff has to be America's greatest scoundrel ruining thousands of lives and so many were elderly trusting him to care for their money in the retirement years.
Irving Picard, the trustee who is recovering funds for Madoff's victims, has recovered $13.3 billion of the $17.5 billion investors orginally entrusted to Madoff, Yahoo Finance reported.

Madoff victims were just as greedy just not criminals like him.

 

[Shalimar]

I have given considerable thought to the concept of gratitude. I agree wholeheartedly that the seeds may flourish in and transform what was once barren ground. I also believe there is a level of anguish so deep that nothing short of a miracle will enable one to transcend that experience.

Sleeping in a cardboard box on the wet streets of Vancouver, beaten, broken, and weighing a severely malnourished ninety pounds was my experience of poverty, homelessness, just another throwaway kid. Had I not been rescued by my vet angel, the only gratitude I would have been capable of comprehending—a peaceful release from my bleak and dangerous life

 

[StarSong]

I have given considerable thought to the concept of gratitude. I agree wholeheartedly that the seeds may flourish in and transform what was once barren ground. I also believe there is a level of anguish so deep that nothing short of a miracle will enable one to transcend that experience.

Sleeping in a cardboard box on the wet streets of Vancouver, beaten, broken, and weighing a severely malnourished ninety pounds was my experience of poverty, homelessness, just another throwaway kid. Had I not been rescued by my vet angel, the only gratitude I would have been capable of comprehending—a peaceful release from my bleak and dangerous life

When in HS I learned about Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It still rings true. God bless your vet angel, Shali, for providing some of the foundational levels of that pyramid for you.

 

[chic]

I have given considerable thought to the concept of gratitude. I agree wholeheartedly that the seeds may flourish in and transform what was once barren ground. I also believe there is a level of anguish so deep that nothing short of a miracle will enable one to transcend that experience.

Sleeping in a cardboard box on the wet streets of Vancouver, beaten, broken, and weighing a severely malnourished ninety pounds was my experience of poverty, homelessness, just another throwaway kid. Had I not been rescued by my vet angel, the only gratitude I would have been capable of comprehending—a peaceful release from my bleak and dangerous life

This breaks my heart to hear how you suffered. How fortunate someone helped you.