re: Bitter Pills

From: Emlyn O'regan (oregan.emlyn@healthsolve.com.au)
Date: Wed Jun 05 2002 - 22:55:21 MDT


 
Barbara Lamar wrote:
>
> Lee Daniel Crocker wrote:
>
>
>>I share you repugnance, but not because it's "greed"--that's a
>>noble thing.
>
> I'll avoid doing business with you, Mr. Crocker, if you believe that
"an
> excessive desire to acquire or possess, as wealth or power, beyond
what one
> needs or deserves" is a noble thing.

Many Randalls wrote:
Well, who decides what is "excessive"; what one "needs" or "deserves"?

Since you're quoting that definition, I assume you believe that you
have a dollar figure above which a person is being greedy? Care to
share that figure, so we can all judge ourselves? :)

----
(and this is me, using a crappy email client)
You can't have it both ways... the original comment was defining greed
as a noble thing. Barbara in response, assuming that Lee would strive to
be greedy (as he believes it noble), commented that she would avoid
doing business with him on that basis. She wasn't defining him as
greedy, she was assuming that he defined himself as greedy, and
presenting her response to that.
This seems to be related to the reputation discussions in other threads.
What Lee is saying (to many of us) when he says that greed is noble, is
that he believes that it is a noble thing to look after ones own
interests first, at the expense of all others possible considerations.
In terms of dealing with another entity in a business relationship,
foreknowledge that the entity is willing to do whatever it takes to
maximise its gain, no matter the cost to others (ie: myself), and with
no regard to any moral imperative that I might deem important if I were
in its shoes, seems to be a good reason to steer clear of doing business
with that entity. More plainly, if I feel I can't trust someone, then I
wont deal with them. I don't think that's irrational.
Emlyn
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