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Old 12-18-2003, 06:36 PM
kerry kerry is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2002
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I think there is a big difference between being in favor of capitalism and being in favor of greed. A person can denounce humanitarianism without having to praise greed. Greed as a character trait is ugly. There certainly can be capitalism without greed. In fact, the places where capitalism grew up, Scotland, England, Holland etc were deeply religious countries in the early stages of capitalism. No one at that time would have thought that greed was a desireable personality characteristic. Early businessmen were governed by rigid moral codes derived from their religion. Their world was quite different from our self-indulgent world. I may be wrong on this, but I don't believe Adam Smith was in favor of greed.
I think Galbraith is on to something. Part of the reason that capitalism succeeded was that owners and shareholders plowed profits back into the businesses. Their true reward was in heaven so earthly rewards were only temporary and secondary. With our culture emphasizing immediate satisfaction, the managerial class is no longer willing to wait for their heavenly rewards. Their control of corporate information allows them to bleed the companies dry in the interests of their own immediate satisfactions. Praising greed reinforces this tendency and provides the managerial class with justification for their ugliness.

Businesspeople don't need to be motivated by altruism but by the same token, they don't need to be motivated by greed. I think cultures that glorify greed are feeding a cancer.

Doesn't anyone read the ancient Greeks anymore? They weren't altruists, but neither were they greedy. They were motivated by a quest for excellence. It is quite different.
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