The guarantee that greed is the basis of what we call "capitalism" spells our doom as a society

[MrScorpio]

What is more disturbing is that this country thinks it's fine and dandy to profit from illness, spend tremendous amounts of money to forestall the inevitable and to selectively "enhance" quality of life with dangerous, profit driven pharmaceuticals.

We ignore our unhealthy diet, which is based on nutrition-less, heavily-processed, factory farmed "food", our dependence on a sedentary lifestyle and the lack of urgency to compensate effectively for the planet's dwindling natural resources.

Our quality of life suffers because of our grossly misplaced priorities.

Is it any wonder that money and its influence are the mechanisms which drove the debates behind HCR?

Americans are either unable or unwilling to change, because we're much too invested in the basic status quo of a greed based society.

It's like a kind of a mass sociopathy... Do we even care? I don't know. I don't have the answers.

Anyway... I'm tired, I'm rambling and I'm going to bed.

Good night, all.

[RKP5637]

1. Agree!!! We are running on a tread mill that is going to run out of steam and the

country is going downhill with a sickness called "mass sociopathy" as you aptly stated!

[Ishoutandscream2]

2. Big ol kick! You ramble well

Spot on post!! Get some good sleep!

[Igel]

3. The problem is that the idea of self-interest governing an economy is half the story.

It's a flawed half because perfect self-interest involves pure reason and perfect knowledge, but it's close enough for here.

The real problem is that having a free market presupposes having a certain culture, a certain ethos. If you only have the free market without the culture that needs to be around to make it reasonable, you get "greed is good."

It's not by accident that the "greed is good" mantra started in the same generation, really, that fully internalized the rejection of the older culture that said self-interest in the market is good, but moral considerations should reign elsewhere. People got the change they were after; they just didn't like the outcome.

[MrScorpio]

5. Exactly

Both of us have noticed the same thing happening.

It shouldn't have been a surprise that the massive upward transfer of wealth happened to the extent in which it has. Outsourcing, for one, is a major reason for this.

That, in turn, is fueling the collapse of our overall economy.

The culture of greed has provided the moral incentive.

[readmoreoften]

4. +1

[branders seine]

6. the biggest thief wins

[WCGreen]

7. The whole basis of capitalism as manifested in consumerism, is

based on coveting things and that is against one of the TEN COMMANDMENTS...