GREED!!!

Keesha

Keesha

šŸŸ
Location
Canada šŸ‡ØšŸ‡¦
Greed is an insatiable longing or desire for material gain, for food, money, or status (power).

Greed is not due to fear or insecurity but due to excessive selfishness which is the result of ignorance, lack of wisdom, lack of kindness and love. Fear, insecurity, anxiety, a tendency to harm or hurt others, overconfidence or arrogance are the results of greed.

How do you feel about greed and how has it affected your life?

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Greed such a small word with such damaging affect on a person 'greed is the ruination
power status- wars claiming rights to land -other countries ect .. oil fields poppy fields all greed '
funny how someone who heads any country suddenly becomes greed orientated -and dont lets forget councils
lol.....
 
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
 

Greed and selfishness arenā€™t the same thing though theyā€™re two sides of the same coin.

Selfishness means putting yourself first in all situations and decisions. Greed is a compulsive need to acquire or have material or other possessions. I think one can be selfish without being greedy. But I think greed can flourish in a selfish person.

Some folks confuse envy with greed too I think. Being envious of someone else or their stuff means that you want it or covet it. Doesnā€™t mean that youā€™re going to accumulate things though, just that you want some specific thing or ability or relationship that someone else has.

I donā€™t think Iā€™ve ever been up close and personal with a greedy person though Iā€™ve dealt with my share of selfish types like my ex for example, whose selfishness was one of the characteristics of his narcissistic personality disorder.

I tend to steer clear of selfish people these days. Thereā€™s no win for me in more than an acquaintanceship with that personality type. Because Iā€™m not at all selfish and am always willing to help, Iā€™m a perfect target for the selfish person.... itā€™s much easier to take advantage of someone like me. šŸ˜‰ Iā€™m much more savvy about this now than I used to be as Iā€™ve gained more confidence and self esteem.
 
It's a continuum. Draw a line and write "absolute selfishness" at one end and "absolute selflessness" at the other. Every day, every decision you make will fall at a point somewhere along that line. Some decisions will be more selfish, others more selfless. None of us is always consistent.

Not only that, but a decision that you feel is quite selfless, others will find to be selfish and vice versa. A person with no food may view you eating two slices of bread as selfish. Another person may view you eating only two slices and sharing the rest of the loaf as selfless.

It isn't right to improve your own situation by harming someone else. Neither is it right to demand from someone else that which they've fairly earned through honest hard work and perserverence. Generosity is a virtue on the part of the giver, but not something that is "owed" to the recipient of the generous act.
 
Tommy said:
It's a continuum. Draw a line and write "absolute selfishness" at one end and "absolute selflessness" at the other. Every day, every decision you make will fall at a point somewhere along that line. Some decisions will be more selfish, others more selfless. None of us is always consistent.

Not only that, but a decision that you feel is quite selfless, others will find to be selfish and vice versa. A person with no food may view you eating two slices of bread as selfish. Another person may view you eating only two slices and sharing the rest of the loaf as selfless.

It isn't right to improve your own situation by harming someone else. Neither is it right to demand from someone else that which they've fairly earned through honest hard work and perseverance. Generosity is a virtue on the part of the giver, but not something that is "owed" to the recipient of the generous act.
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Beautifully said, Tommy. We are all greedy and selfish sometimes.

@Judycat - much as I lean toward the political left, and lean I do, I cannot agree that food, clothing and shelter should be free in this country. Maybe borrow and customize Habitat for Humanity's template of sweat equity, but not free. Or that people's incomes/wealth should be capped at a certain number, with the excess confiscated. Taxed quite heavily, yes. Certainly much more so than it is today. But confiscated? No. (Besides which, they'd find a loophole or move to the Cayman Islands if we did that.)

I believe that corporate, religious and political greed have been extraordinarily detrimental to our country and planet. Conscienceless corporations (desperate to reward their board members and share holders) and religions (desperate to control every aspect of people's lives) have steamrolled over and destroyed countless millions (billions?) by bribing greedy, selfish politicians who pay them back with advantageous votes and influence.
 
Capitalism an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Socialism a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Communism a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

I'll stick with Capitalism until something better comes along. I'm fine as long as everyone has a shot at getting what they want and need legally.
 
Iā€™ll tell you what bugs me. Over paid professional athletes. Over paid owners of professional sports teams. Over paid movie stars. Over paid rock stars. The millions and millions of dollars that are paid to corporate execs as bonuses. The amount of money paid out by companies to those acting as product endorsers. I am a believer in capitalism, but their should be some common sense when paying the above mentioned people.

Personally, I know an Oncologist that also does surgery removing tumors. His wife told my wife just last year that he made $1.6 million dollars in 2017. Iā€™m OK with that. The man is out there saving lives and ā€œearningā€ his money. But, how do you support someone making $26 million per year playing baseball? Which personā€™s abilities are more important?
 
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911 said:
Iā€™ll tell you what bugs me. Over paid professional athletes. Over paid owners of professional sports teams. Over paid movie stars. Over paid rock stars. The millions and millions of dollars that are paid to corporate execs as bonuses. The amount of money paid out by companies to those acting and product endorsers. I am a believer in capitalism, but their should be some common sense when paying the above mentioned people.

Personally, I know an Oncologist that also does surgery removing tumors. His wife told my wife just last year that he made $1.6 million dollars in 2017. Iā€™m OK with that. The man is out there saving lives and ā€œearningā€ his money. But, how do you support someone making $26 million per year playing baseball? Which personā€™s abilities are more important?
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Your post had me nodding in agreement until hitting the oncologist who earned $1.6 million per year. The argument could be made that movie stars and professional athletes bring value to millions of people's lives and are therefore "earning" that money. Just as the oncologist is bringing value to a couple of hundred of lives per year. Is his contribution and value truly worth 50 times the $32K that an average US daycare worker earns? Bear in mind, we are entrusting these people with what's most important to us - our children.
 
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I think it's how you look at greed. The desire to want more is a very human trait. How many give back portions of their pay, because they recieved too much? It pretty much fuels our economy. It's what builds empires. It's also a brutal thing. It causes misery. The problem is how much greed is OK and how much is pathological. I'm not sure how you judge that.
 
With some people, enough is never enough. Greed is behind the massive wage disparity that has decimated America's lower and middle class. In 1950 most CEO/manager/boss wages were higher by a single digit percentage. Now the difference is counted in hundreds or thousands.

Winning in today's game of life is determined by how much one has been able to accumulate be it money or possessions or power.
 
911 said:
Iā€™ll tell you what bugs me. Over paid professional athletes. Over paid owners of professional sports teams. Over paid movie stars. Over paid rock stars. The millions and millions of dollars that are paid to corporate execs as bonuses. The amount of money paid out by companies to those acting and product endorsers. I am a believer in capitalism, but their should be some common sense when paying the above mentioned people.

Personally, I know an Oncologist that also does surgery removing tumors. His wife told my wife just last year that he made $1.6 million dollars in 2017. Iā€™m OK with that. The man is out there saving lives and ā€œearningā€ his money. But, how do you support someone making $26 million per year playing baseball? Which personā€™s abilities are more important?
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Movie stars, rock stars & professional sports people are paid by the general public who is willing to see them perform & buy their music & movies. Their pay is based on their popularity, not how important their job is.
 
StarSong said:
Your post had me nodding in agreement until hitting the oncologist who earned $1.6 million per year. The argument could be made that movie stars and professional athletes bring value to millions of people's lives and are therefore "earning" that money. Just as the oncologist is bringing value to a couple of hundred of lives per year. Is his contribution and value truly worth 50 times the $32K that an average US daycare worker earns? Bear in mind, we are entrusting these people with what's most important to us - our children.
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Daycare workers here are paid about $12.00 per hr. No benefits, no sick days, nada, nothing.
 
Which of these socialistic programs would you abolish:
Aunt Bea said:
Capitalism an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Socialism a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Communism a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

I'll stick with Capitalism until something better comes along. I'm fine as long as everyone has a shot at getting what they want and need legally.
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No offense intended but which of these socialistic programs do you want to abolish:

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the military, road/highway/ bridge construction and maintenance, police, fire, postal service, libraries, museums, public schools, legal system - courts/ jails/prisons, vaccine programs, farm subsidies, sewer systems, transportation systems such as city buses/subways/Amtrak, dams and water control, PBS, CDC, FEMA, ICE and other border control. And there must be others that don't come to mind just now.

Please tell us, which should go?
 
Do you have enough? How much is enough?
Some people never have enough, others are content with very little.
I have everything I need and most of what I want. There is no desire for more. By most standards I don't have a lot.
Hubby always wants more stuff, stuff he can hang on the walls and show off, stuff he puts on the shelves and never uses (or dusts). He will give up nothing. His stuff makes him feel secure and shows his economic abilities.
 
StarSong said:
...movie stars and professional athletes bring value to millions of people's lives and are therefore "earning" that money. Just as the oncologist is bringing value to a couple of hundred of lives per year. Is his contribution and value truly worth 50 times the $32K that an average US daycare worker earns? Bear in mind, we are entrusting these people with what's most important to us - our children.
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There's no comparison between overpaid athletes/entertainers and doctors like oncologists, ER docs, heart surgeons, etc.

Doctors are doing more than "bringing value to lives". They're bringing LIFE itself.

And many doctors don't have a lot of quality of life themselves in order to save those lives. They work long hours and are on-call throughout the night while trying to get much needed sleep. Some doctors end up with PTSD or worse, suicide, from seeing blood, gore, traumatized families, and having to deal with "failure" when a life is lost...even when they did all they could. And it goes on and on...not just during football season.
 
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StarSong said:
Your post had me nodding in agreement until hitting the oncologist who earned $1.6 million per year. The argument could be made that movie stars and professional athletes bring value to millions of people's lives and are therefore "earning" that money. Just as the oncologist is bringing value to a couple of hundred of lives per year. Is his contribution and value truly worth 50 times the $32K that an average US daycare worker earns? Bear in mind, we are entrusting these people with what's most important to us - our children.
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Hanks ā€œearnedā€ (as you put it) $40mil doing Forest Gump. It was a great movie and very good job of acting. (BTW, I am not. T.H. fan.) However, I have seen movie prices as high as $14.00 at various theaters and every time the movie is shown on TV, he gets paid. That means I am paying to watch the movie again through my cable bill. If he only received 1 check for his performance, maybe I would feel different, but why do I have to pay for his talent every time it shows on TV? I donā€™t watch it every time, but I pay every time. And, $40mill is even excessive to me for 1 movie.

If that movie never played or Hanks was never born, I would still be here. If I had a tumor on my lung and we didnā€™t have any oncologists, I may not be.
 
Wait until some of you have a doctor/medical care people shortage n your state. You might start thinking differently. We're not a universal care country yet. I'm guessing that would make a difference and medical people are compensated in ways that still make them want themselves to become doctors, etc. Those would be the folks with a true calling. So I"m thinking that would make a difference.
 
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911 said:
Iā€™ll tell you what bugs me. Over paid professional athletes. Over paid owners of professional sports teams. Over paid movie stars. Over paid rock stars. The millions and millions of dollars that are paid to corporate execs as bonuses. The amount of money paid out by companies to those acting as product endorsers. I am a believer in capitalism, but their should be some common sense when paying the above mentioned people.
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Current pay for entertainers is a result of the multiplication effect of technology. Prior to technological advances, people paid to see an individual stage or athletic performance at a fixed place, and the number of people the venue would hold plus the amount those people were willing to pay for a seat in that venue determined the value of the performance. With technological advances, performances are now broadcast to billions globally, and the performers get paid for the audience numbers.
 
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Definitions? don't know definitions:

Communism has never been tried, we have no idea what it is, it is and has always been a scare word.
Socialism is not a bad word; it has been made a scare word by capitalist.
The Scandinavian Countries seem to function well with socialism.
Check it out on the net, problems yes, but the people accept them.

If yout took pen and paper and added up the amount of money you pay fed, state, and county taxes you might be astounded ā€“donā€™t forget sneaked tx: on land phone lines, lic tag alcohol, cigarette tax, non-food items at grocery store and the dozens of others we have paid without murmurs.
You donā€™t find it peculiar that the first item revolutionary govts that have succeeded do is pass a law outlawing revolutions

I want no part of paying 40% of gross income, Yet, I had no idea just what % of my gross income went to taxes. Primarily, those hidden taxes we never consider.
Plus, we have no input on how our state and fed taxes are allocated-thatā€™s a job for our betters.
 

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