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shroom_muncher
ex-dope fiend
Registered: 10/07/03
Posts: 426
Loc: The great white north
Last seen: 17 years, 21 days
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Greed
#2358857 - 02/20/04 10:12 AM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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I was thinkin, greed is based on survival of the fittest, an animal instinct that evolution gave to humans. Violence is also an animal instinct, yet its illegal because it does direct harm to people. Greed causes indirect harm to people. If all the coporations have 3/4 of the money then of course people are gonna suffer cause theres not enough to go around. Then shouldn't greed be illegal? Aren't civilized nations supposed to rise above animal instincts? Just a thought...
-------------------- peace sells but whos buyin?
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trendal
J♠
Registered: 04/17/01
Posts: 20,815
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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Yes greed is wrong...but remember that using criminal law is a very blunt tool for shaping society. Education is the true key to shaping our society...and unfortunately many people still teach greed to their children
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Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.
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Squatting_Otter
Freedom Code
Registered: 02/13/04
Posts: 97
Loc: point no point
Last seen: 19 years, 10 months
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What's greed?
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Evolving
Resident Cynic
Registered: 10/01/02
Posts: 5,385
Loc: Apt #6, The Village
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Please give us your definitions of instinct and greed.
In regards to money, money is a medium of exchange it can be used as a measure of wealth, but it is not wealth. Corporations are owned by people, so any money corporations have ultimately is controlled by people. Just because there is an unequal distribution of money does not mean that people with less money are going to suffer - did everybody suffer before the invention of money? What if one individual controlled 99% of the wealth but the other 1% of wealth was so great that everyone else had a home free and clear and never went without food, clothing or medicine? If it's the unequal distribution of wealth that bothers you, let's discuss ENVY.
-------------------- To call humans 'rational beings' does injustice to the term, 'rational.' Humans are capable of rational thought, but it is not their essence. Humans are animals, beasts with complex brains. Humans, more often than not, utilize their cerebrum to rationalize what their primal instincts, their preconceived notions, and their emotional desires have presented as goals - humans are rationalizing beings.
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Anonymous
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Violence is also an animal instinct, yet its illegal because it does direct harm to people. Greed causes indirect harm to people. greed may cause harm. if greed drives one person to defraud, steal, kill, or enslave someone else, then it has. when greed drives a person to do harm to another, then it's a problem. when greed merely drives a person to create as much as they possibly can, and keep it for themself, they've harmed no one in the process. If all the coporations have 3/4 of the money then of course people are gonna suffer cause theres not enough to go around. Then shouldn't greed be illegal? there is a very common economic fallacy that views the market as a big ole pie sitting there from which everyone gets to take a peice. in reality though, there is no such pie. things like food, houses, factories, computers, cars, shoes, and so on don't just create themselves. people have to make them. everything that is exchanged in the market is produced by productive human efforts... not only is there no pie, but the market is in essence, limitless. "the corporations" cannot have 3/4 of the wealth... because the amount of wealth is not fixed, but dynamic. if a person, or group of them, has anything of value, unless they stole it, they either created it themself or created something of equal value to offer in exchange for it. if you are extraordinarily wealthy, and came became so through honest means, then you have harmed none... you haven't taken more than your fair share of the pie, but made your own, and there's nothing wrong with that. unless a person's greed drives them to kill and steal, there's no ethical grounds for taking action against them. expending your own efforts to build a garishly large mansion is a personal decision that harms no one.
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greenhaze
one toke overthe line
Registered: 06/03/02
Posts: 514
Loc: the severed garden
Last seen: 18 years, 4 months
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Everyone is basically selfish from birth...it's part of survival and human nature...greed is when you take it too far and are not considerate of others. Greed would be impossible to be made illegal. it's much to broad of a subject...some parts of greediness are illegal...monopolies, ect...
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shroom_muncher
ex-dope fiend
Registered: 10/07/03
Posts: 426
Loc: The great white north
Last seen: 17 years, 21 days
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I'm not envious at all. I don't give a shit about material wealth, all I want is to be happy and i don't need a mercedes for that. I just wish everyone else could be happy and secure and greed is preventing that. Theres enough money flowing around this country for every single person to live comfortably yet there's all this poverty.
-------------------- peace sells but whos buyin?
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Sclorch
Clyster
Registered: 07/12/99
Posts: 4,805
Loc: On the Brink of Madness
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Quote:
shroom_muncher said: I don?t give a shit about material wealth, all I want is to be happy
Is that sixty bucks (two tens and two twenties) and a scantily-clad woman in that banner of yours?
-------------------- Note: In desperate need of a cure...
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shroom_muncher
ex-dope fiend
Registered: 10/07/03
Posts: 426
Loc: The great white north
Last seen: 17 years, 21 days
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Re: Greed [Re: Sclorch]
#2373200 - 02/23/04 06:24 PM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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Yeah but you forgot about the yin-yang. Sycodelik made it for me, I just thought it would look cool. It isn't a representation of what I believe, its just eye candy. and I guess you cuold also say those are the only things I need in life. A girl, a loyal companion and a little bit of cash.
-------------------- peace sells but whos buyin?
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Sclorch
Clyster
Registered: 07/12/99
Posts: 4,805
Loc: On the Brink of Madness
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Suuuuure.
hehe
-------------------- Note: In desperate need of a cure...
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Hahzist
Surfing theWaves of Chaos
Registered: 02/15/04
Posts: 214
Last seen: 12 years, 2 months
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Re: Greed [Re: Sclorch]
#2374292 - 02/24/04 12:41 AM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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Greed - An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth.
I guess everyone deserves happiness..but do you really need it? A human can survive when he or she isnt happy. So then again, does anyone really deserve to be happy? Maybe we all deserve to be only content because obviously people dont really deserve to be sad. So perhaps someone who is not greedy is someone who is content and possesses only what they need to survive and function..kind of like every other animal on our planet. But then again, the word excessive is used, so maybe its just a very interpretable word where there is some sort of line as to ones desire to be happy or aquire certain things before they become greedy.
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enotake2
Stop Bush's war
Registered: 01/30/03
Posts: 1,457
Loc: Comfy chair in my lounger...
Last seen: 12 years, 9 months
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Re: Greed [Re: Hahzist]
#2374383 - 02/24/04 01:11 AM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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Material posessions don't necessarily make you happy though. Actually the happiest I ever was was when I was the poorest I was. I was unemployed though I was doing what I love - art, full time preparing for an art exhibition. So, yeah, you don't need more money or more things to survive or be happy, IME .
-------------------- Computer games don't affect kids. I mean if Pacman affected our generation as kids, we'd all be running around in a darkened room, munching pills and listening to repetitive electronic music. "Being bitter and hateful is like drinking a vial of poison and hoping the other person gets sick" FreakQLibrium "My motto from here on out is: If someone or something (including me) in my life is conducting themselves in such a way that they can be seen on Jerry Springer, it's time to take out the garbage!!! When you stop taking their behaviour personally and see their antics as a true reflection on their character, it becomes absolutely nauseating." Anon. on abusive relationships.
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