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need has become the prime standard of value in the United States. In our current economic climate, the CEO who earns a bonus is seen as undeserving. But the deadbeat homeowner who can't pay his bills is somehow seen as deserving of financial help
Value greed? That's a slippery slope to moral bankruptcy.
How about we value hard work and effort, not greed. Let's stop awarding execs responsible for oil rig deaths, for example. They were surely greedy but didn't work very hard for that safety bonus of 300k they "earned".
And no one is 'valuing need' that I know of; but valuing life, even of the needy, is more like it.
"When the rich plunder the poor of his rights, it becomes an example of the poor to plunder the rich of his property, for the rights of the one are as much property to him as wealth is property to the other and the little all is as dear as the much. It is only by setting out on just principles that men are trained to be just to each other; and it will always be found, that when the rich protect the rights of the poor, the poor will protect the property of the rich."
- Thomas Paine
Clearly, likes of Margret Thatcher don't think highly of someone like Thomas Paine.
Yeah that's the ticket to a stable economy, setting up your economy based entirely on the worst in people, giving power to shady individuals playing on the worst aspects of their personalities, and assuming something positive will result and they can self police. Yeah that's not insane.
If America is really about protecting rights it's doing a pretty ****ty job. When we deregulate the market and turn Wall St into a casino assuming they'll police themselves look at where we find ourselves. People lose their "pursuit of happiness" through no fault of their own. Then these crooks can just buy off a few more politicians and ready their golden parachutes. Main St is left impotent and stripped of rights to the benefit of Washington/Wall St/K Street.
I'm not a socialist, I'm a capitalist. But most importantly I'm a realist. We don't even allow athletes to police themselves, they have umpires, judges, and referees. The government should act as the police, not picking winners and losers, but ensuring that everyone actually has the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
My thoughts are that greed is one of the seven cardinal sins. There is nothing wrong with earning money, or earning lots of money, but it must be earned not just legally, but ethically. Ethics seem to be the biggest challege to humans.
Lastly, America was built on greed and theft, so it's not surprising that someone stated a thread such as this one. Greed seems to be a driving force in American culture. Always has been.
"When the rich plunder the poor of his rights, it becomes an example of the poor to plunder the rich of his property, for the rights of the one are as much property to him as wealth is property to the other and the little all is as dear as the much. It is only by setting out on just principles that men are trained to be just to each other; and it will always be found, that when the rich protect the rights of the poor, the poor will protect the property of the rich."
- Thomas Paine
Clearly, likes of Margret Thatcher don't think highly of someone like Thomas Paine.
I am sorry, but how is this article suggesting that the poor be deprived of any rights? The right to pursue wealth is available to all, isn't it?
Where did this article suggest taking rights away from someone based on wealth or class?
And isn't greed a good thing? If wall street is corrupt, start your own mutual fund. If the grocery store down the street has prices that are too high, open your own. Your greed to want to do better than your neighbor will keep him in check.
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