From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Thu Jun 20 2002 - 11:59:47 MDT
Dickey, Michael F wrote:
> From: empresstheodora@juno.com [mailto:empresstheodora@juno.com]
>
>>"So, someone has the guts to do this."
>>
>>read blatant greed
>
>
> "In this case, "greed" is definitely good."
>
> Greed is never good. Greed is the dehumanizing element in the world and one
> of the main reasons that we have much afliction in it.
>
In the sense of the lust for every more material things even beyond all
reason and need, greed is not good.
> Greed also brought to this world electricity, running water, health,
> medicine, vaccines, indoor heating, sanitation systems, longer lifes,
> poetry, music, love, and, importantly, computers which will ultimately
> (through greed) lead to a singularity which may ultimately (through greed)
> lead to immortality. And, possibly, given the constraints of Time travel
> not yet worked out, the 'resurrection' of the dead. Basing a society on the
> opposite of greed, altruism, has led to the failure of communism and the
> massive death toll that ensued, 100's of millions of people.
>
There is no way you can claim greed (in the above sense) was responsible
for all these things. The need and desire for a better life and the
curiosity to explore and figure things out were largely responsible. A
system that leaves people free to invent and produce and offer what they
produce to others at some agreed on price is definitely useful but that
system itself does not require greed in the above sense either. That
our economies are now based on something that does look like greed and
the above sense and we have confused that with capitalism and the good
is part of the problem with current economies and attempting to
understand and improve on them.
- samantha
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