[barryem]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Capitalism does not require greed. Nor are we all greedy. Simply not true. Greed is not good (it's ridiculous that this has to be said).

Capitalism simply means "an economic system based on private ownership of capital." There's nothing there that requires greed. Nor does it require cheating your help or using predatory practices to destroy your competition. Or that you become a monopoly. Nor does it require buying a company to break it up for pieces and turning out thousands of workers. That's greed, not capitalism.

Capitalism doesn't "require" greed. It puts it to good use. It also doesn't require cheating. It works best when we cheat least.

Capitalism isn't about greed. We are. Have you ever asked for a raise because you thought you could get it? Whether you've earned it is something for your employer to worry about. Greed is about wanting more. Wanting more is a really big incentive to create and invent. It's part of human nature. Capitalism tries to help it become a more positive force.

Greed means, "excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves." I've never wanted or plotted to get something that rightfully belonged to someone else. I've just tried to make my own way, without harming someone else. Someone who is greedy doesn't care if they harm someone else (or some other company) so long as they get what they want.

The Merriam Webster definition of greed is "a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (such as money) than is needed"

Ideally capitalism means free enterprise. Where everyone has a chance to succeed and where unfair practices are banned – where the rich are not allowed to undercut the poor (or the powerful can't undercut the weak). In the Middle ages they had the guilds, where (at least ideally) rules were followed that insured those who worked hard weren't run out of business.

That's the kind of capitalism I would like to see. Not the "suck the marrow out of 'em" venture capitalism that truly is pure greed.

I agree with a lot of that. There are certainly problems with capitalism. History has shown us a kind of pendulum effect where things get out of hand and we nudge the system a bit to straighten things out. Today there are some real problems but it's been worse at a lot of times in the past. I do love pendulums.

Barry