Desire to achieve things for oneself is good. I admire it in others, such as Bill Gates, for example. Bill Gates created Microsoft for his own greater glory and enrichment but he also enriched others in the bargain. He’s what I mean by greed is good. Without his greed, we’d all be poorer.
Personal achievement is a high value, but it’s not the only value. Social values are important, too. Bill Gates’ success isn’t only his own. His parents and his teachers were a big part of his achievements. Policemen made the streets safe for him. City workers provided him with clean water and sanitation.
I don’t see it in terms of greed versus morality. It’s more like greed is the short term and morality is the long term. One needs both. There’s no long term without taking care of the short term. There’s no short term without taking care of the long term.
My beef with how things stand today is it’s all short term and no long term. Greenhouse gas emissions are an example of how the long term is getting clobbered by greed. But I don’t say down with greed. I say give the long term, morality, a seat at the table. Put greed to work cleaning up greenhouse gas emissions.
Charles Ashurst, Logan