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Topic: is greed good? (Read 2122 times)

hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
July 12, 2014, 04:11:06 AM
#44
Greed is an external NEED for something which is not US in substitution for ourselves. So to that extent then, greed is a rejection of who we really are. Greed is a denial that we are whole and NEED NOTHING. Need is a dependency not a self-sufficiency. It implies that we LACK something. If we lack nothing, we are whole and complete and therefore have no needs. Honoring the self totally eliminates dependencies like greed
I'm curious what you mean by this.  Could you elaborate a little more?  How do you figure that we need nothing external?  Don't we need food, clothing, etc.?
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
July 12, 2014, 04:07:14 AM
#43
"Science Proves It: Greed Is Good"

http://time.com/41680/greed-is-good-science-proves/

" Wall Street, home of the good guys? Kind of.

Egalitarianism is not all it's cracked up to be. A new study shows that inequality and social hierarchies can be good things—within certain limits.

Let us now stop and praise the plutocrat. Really. Props too to the bailed out, the overprivileged, the exploiters of the little guys, the Machiavellian narcissists who earn way, way too much and are taking advantage of the rest of us to stay that way. Oh, and let’s praise Putin too.

Greed really is good, as are income inequality, bullying across class lines and even the iron fist of the political strongman—in certain contexts, at least. That’s the conclusion of a new study from the University of Oxford, just published in Nature Communications. Using mathematical models of human social groups, the researchers found that when communities are hierarchically structured—meaning that there is a potential for high inequality too—the individuals at the top tend to make more of an effort in the interests of the group than those at the bottom, including competing with outside groups and facing potential danger in the proce

The authors detected that behavior across nearly all cultures, and cite corresponding studies of chimps, blue monkeys and ring-tail lemurs, showing that higher ranking individuals tend to venture closer to the perilous border of the group’s territory during patrols, and high-ranking females will join the males in combat with other groups. In return, the lower ranking members are allowed to become what is known as free-riders, hiding behind the skirts of the big shots and contributing little on their own. The price for this protection? Don’t cross the dominant members of your own group or they’ll direct their power—and ire—at you too.

Studies like this always raise illuminating and troubling questions and are easy to exploit by nearly anyone with a social or political agenda. (See? There really is such a thing as the safety net turning into a hammock; the makers versus the takers really do exist. Or: See? Bully-boy behavior is the stuff of the apes, something egalitarian societies—and homo sapiens as a whole—ought to have left behind by now.)

But, as in nearly all matters of human behavior, the reality is more nuanced than ideology allows for. Throughout history there is a long tradition of powerful people who serve the group in some way being rewarded with more power still. Famous generals become Presidents (Washington, Grant, Eisenhower), not just because everyone knows their names but because they’ve proven their fortitude in battle and can prove it again if dangerous outsiders come calling. If you’re confused about Vladimir Putin’s stratospheric approval numbers at home even as he has made Russia an international pariah—at least in the eyes of the West—be confused no more.

We tolerate too the enormous wealth some inventors and industrialists accumulate because at least part of the time, they make our lives better too. (Thank you for the cars, Mr. Ford, and for the iPod, Mr. Jobs.) Admittedly, we’re a lot less tolerant when wealthy and powerful people create things that benefit only other wealthy and powerful people—(Thank you for, um, the $25 million condo that nobody I know will ever remotely be able to live in, Mr. Trump)—but we’d rather have an economy that rewards ambition than one that smothers it.

Free-riding is more complex than it seems as well. There’s truth to the fact that in the past, at least, welfare could be a disincentive to work, especially when the work that was on offer was unappealing (you try working a deep frier all day) and paid little more than the free money the government was giving you. But there’s a limit to that—especially when it comes to arguments against extending long-term unemployment benefits.

Under federal formulae, a weekly unemployment check tops out at 40-50% of your last paycheck. If you were grossing only $400 a week to begin with—and plenty of hourly workers don’t make even that much—that’s a cool $200 in benefits. How long could you lounge about in that hammock? On the other hand, health insurance free-riders—people who wait until they’re sick to sign up—do represent a real risk. So the only way to make sure everybody gets a fair shake is—oh, what do you call it again? Ah, yes: a mandate.

The behaviors we share with the lower apes are there for a reason: they worked when we were lower apes, and they still do. The plutocrats, the pampered, are necessary members of a complex economy, and calls for pure egalitarianism have always been nonsense. But so is the tough-love, pull-yourself-up, no free lunch even if you’re starving ethos of the people who have forgotten—or never knew—what that kind of desperation feels like. There’s not a thing wrong with the rich and powerful, provided that they remember what wealth and power are for. Blue-tailed monkeys and lemurs do—so how hard can it be?"
The basic premise of this article seems to be that greed is what motivates a lot of people to better society and to protect it and its citizens.  Now, I do agree that this works fairly well as a stronger society/economy tends to lift all boats, especially those of the rich.  And, practically speaking, this is probably about the best we can do in the world in which we live.  But shouldn't it be possible (theoretically, anyway) to build a strong(er) society without greed?  Where people are motivated to work hard, not just for their own sake, but for the good of their neighbors, too?  Where the rich use their wealth to reach out to the poor, not to give them a hand out but a hand up?
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
July 11, 2014, 07:59:56 PM
#42
Greed is an external NEED for something which is not US in substitution for ourselves. So to that extent then, greed is a rejection of who we really are. Greed is a denial that we are whole and NEED NOTHING. Need is a dependency not a self-sufficiency. It implies that we LACK something. If we lack nothing, we are whole and complete and therefore have no needs. Honoring the self totally eliminates dependencies like greed

Horseshit.
member
Activity: 103
Merit: 10
July 11, 2014, 07:42:42 PM
#41
Greed is good for yourself but others may hate you for it.  Smiley
newbie
Activity: 42
Merit: 0
July 11, 2014, 02:29:41 PM
#40
Normal greed is ok but too much greed is not good.

Whats normal greed? lol.

but I get your point of view, meaning dont become the banks where the ceo earns crazy amounts of money then average worker would hit in a life time. 
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
July 11, 2014, 02:23:21 PM
#39

Greed Is Good: A 300-Year History of a Dangerous Idea
Not long ago, the pursuit of commercial self-interest was largely reviled. How did we come to accept it?
John Paul Rollert Apr 7 2014, 11:32 AM ET

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/04/greed-is-good-a-300-year-history-of-a-dangerous-idea/360265/
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
July 11, 2014, 02:12:50 PM
#38
"Science Proves It: Greed Is Good"

http://time.com/41680/greed-is-good-science-proves/

" Wall Street, home of the good guys? Kind of.

Egalitarianism is not all it's cracked up to be. A new study shows that inequality and social hierarchies can be good things—within certain limits.

Let us now stop and praise the plutocrat. Really. Props too to the bailed out, the overprivileged, the exploiters of the little guys, the Machiavellian narcissists who earn way, way too much and are taking advantage of the rest of us to stay that way. Oh, and let’s praise Putin too.

Greed really is good, as are income inequality, bullying across class lines and even the iron fist of the political strongman—in certain contexts, at least. That’s the conclusion of a new study from the University of Oxford, just published in Nature Communications. Using mathematical models of human social groups, the researchers found that when communities are hierarchically structured—meaning that there is a potential for high inequality too—the individuals at the top tend to make more of an effort in the interests of the group than those at the bottom, including competing with outside groups and facing potential danger in the proce

The authors detected that behavior across nearly all cultures, and cite corresponding studies of chimps, blue monkeys and ring-tail lemurs, showing that higher ranking individuals tend to venture closer to the perilous border of the group’s territory during patrols, and high-ranking females will join the males in combat with other groups. In return, the lower ranking members are allowed to become what is known as free-riders, hiding behind the skirts of the big shots and contributing little on their own. The price for this protection? Don’t cross the dominant members of your own group or they’ll direct their power—and ire—at you too.

Studies like this always raise illuminating and troubling questions and are easy to exploit by nearly anyone with a social or political agenda. (See? There really is such a thing as the safety net turning into a hammock; the makers versus the takers really do exist. Or: See? Bully-boy behavior is the stuff of the apes, something egalitarian societies—and homo sapiens as a whole—ought to have left behind by now.)

But, as in nearly all matters of human behavior, the reality is more nuanced than ideology allows for. Throughout history there is a long tradition of powerful people who serve the group in some way being rewarded with more power still. Famous generals become Presidents (Washington, Grant, Eisenhower), not just because everyone knows their names but because they’ve proven their fortitude in battle and can prove it again if dangerous outsiders come calling. If you’re confused about Vladimir Putin’s stratospheric approval numbers at home even as he has made Russia an international pariah—at least in the eyes of the West—be confused no more.

We tolerate too the enormous wealth some inventors and industrialists accumulate because at least part of the time, they make our lives better too. (Thank you for the cars, Mr. Ford, and for the iPod, Mr. Jobs.) Admittedly, we’re a lot less tolerant when wealthy and powerful people create things that benefit only other wealthy and powerful people—(Thank you for, um, the $25 million condo that nobody I know will ever remotely be able to live in, Mr. Trump)—but we’d rather have an economy that rewards ambition than one that smothers it.

Free-riding is more complex than it seems as well. There’s truth to the fact that in the past, at least, welfare could be a disincentive to work, especially when the work that was on offer was unappealing (you try working a deep frier all day) and paid little more than the free money the government was giving you. But there’s a limit to that—especially when it comes to arguments against extending long-term unemployment benefits.

Under federal formulae, a weekly unemployment check tops out at 40-50% of your last paycheck. If you were grossing only $400 a week to begin with—and plenty of hourly workers don’t make even that much—that’s a cool $200 in benefits. How long could you lounge about in that hammock? On the other hand, health insurance free-riders—people who wait until they’re sick to sign up—do represent a real risk. So the only way to make sure everybody gets a fair shake is—oh, what do you call it again? Ah, yes: a mandate.

The behaviors we share with the lower apes are there for a reason: they worked when we were lower apes, and they still do. The plutocrats, the pampered, are necessary members of a complex economy, and calls for pure egalitarianism have always been nonsense. But so is the tough-love, pull-yourself-up, no free lunch even if you’re starving ethos of the people who have forgotten—or never knew—what that kind of desperation feels like. There’s not a thing wrong with the rich and powerful, provided that they remember what wealth and power are for. Blue-tailed monkeys and lemurs do—so how hard can it be?"
hero member
Activity: 518
Merit: 500
Trust me!
July 11, 2014, 02:06:48 PM
#37
Normal greed is ok but too much greed is not good.
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
July 11, 2014, 02:03:22 PM
#36
How can greed ever be good? It's one of the worst things about humans, but sadly I think 99% of us suffer from it.

Oh, horseshit!

You have  no idea what you are talking about.
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
July 11, 2014, 11:37:27 AM
#35
How can greed ever be good? It's one of the worst things about humans, but sadly I think 99% of us suffer from it.
The only way I can think of greed being beneficial to an individual is if they're able to take advantage of other people's greed, like making money off of market bubbles.  But note that I used the word "beneficial," not "good."
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 250
12CDKyxPyL5Rj28ed2yz5czJf3Dr2ZvEYw
July 11, 2014, 08:23:47 AM
#34
Overall greed is good for bitcoin since it causes price to go up, which means more popularity for BTC. Greed is not good for other aspects of life for sure.
sr. member
Activity: 270
Merit: 250
July 11, 2014, 07:21:29 AM
#33
How can greed ever be good? It's one of the worst things about humans, but sadly I think 99% of us suffer from it.
sr. member
Activity: 448
Merit: 250
July 11, 2014, 07:08:01 AM
#32
I have an idea on how to stop greed on alt coins in general, thats why these coins fail. before the greedy bastards came in there were nothing but geeks having fun with bitcoin and mining for fun, not for profit. 

once bitcoin became worth real money, things done changed.

yyeah but see what help bitcoin is was it adapted way before the greed factor came in, once a new alt coin is introduced, the whales come in and start mining and dumping, so hence forth the greed factor is introduced before it had time to be adapted.
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
July 11, 2014, 02:29:34 AM
#31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF_iorX_MAw

Greed is good!

The real truth is greed hurts any market. Look at the banks... bitcoin can become that if greed isn't countered.
But how can we stop the human instinct of greed? Is greed the biggest long term threat for bitcoin?

Stop using money.  Share as a the family humanity is.  Work collectively towards accomplishing things as a species, not against each other.

Greed retards the progression of mankind.  Greed is the cause of depression, war and hunger.  It is the death of our species.

A society based off love would open infinite opportunities for our evolution.
I agree that some of this sounds great, assuming we're talking about a "let's sit down and fix some things so we can all live better lives" kind of loving society, not a "let's sing kumbaya and hug each other until our arms fall off" loving society.  But I think it's likely that money would still be necessary as it facilitates trade and compensation.  To eliminate money I think you'd probably have to eliminate the idea of personal property, which would not work well for a number of reasons.
full member
Activity: 182
Merit: 100
July 09, 2014, 02:48:37 PM
#30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF_iorX_MAw

Greed is good!

The real truth is greed hurts any market. Look at the banks... bitcoin can become that if greed isn't countered.
But how can we stop the human instinct of greed? Is greed the biggest long term threat for bitcoin?

Stop using money.  Share as a the family humanity is.  Work collectively towards accomplishing things as a species, not against each other.

Greed retards the progression of mankind.  Greed is the cause of depression, war and hunger.  It is the death of our species.

A society based off love would open infinite opportunities for our evolution.

Damn hippies  Cheesy
member
Activity: 85
Merit: 10
July 09, 2014, 12:32:33 PM
#29
Greed is not good, that is why every spiritual teaching says you have to overcome it. It is how smart old people teach young to live more satisfied life. Greedy people = unhappy people.

Doesnt make sense to own whole world if you are not happy.
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
July 06, 2014, 10:26:28 PM
#28
Greed is pretty much a given in any economic system, including one that might theoretically center around cryptocurrencies. It can be managed on an individual level through something called "self-control," but all humans have a certain amount of greed. Yes, even the Occupy Wall Street crowd who bash the greedy 1%. Some greed can be a good thing, as it often propels people to work towards improving their station in life. Then we call it ambition and call that person a self-starter who isn't afraid of hard work. Too much greed is the entire reason you see things like Ponzi schemes and we call those people criminals even when they weasel their way out of jail time through having the right kind of connections. (Karma can be a big help here. The way I see it, justice can take many forms and not just sending someone to prison.)

"Karma".

Yet another primitive superstition.
hero member
Activity: 798
Merit: 1000
July 06, 2014, 09:27:47 PM
#27
Greed is pretty much a given in any economic system, including one that might theoretically center around cryptocurrencies. It can be managed on an individual level through something called "self-control," but all humans have a certain amount of greed. Yes, even the Occupy Wall Street crowd who bash the greedy 1%. Some greed can be a good thing, as it often propels people to work towards improving their station in life. Then we call it ambition and call that person a self-starter who isn't afraid of hard work. Too much greed is the entire reason you see things like Ponzi schemes and we call those people criminals even when they weasel their way out of jail time through having the right kind of connections. (Karma can be a big help here. The way I see it, justice can take many forms and not just sending someone to prison.)
legendary
Activity: 1134
Merit: 1002
You cannot kill love
July 06, 2014, 09:20:06 PM
#26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF_iorX_MAw

Greed is good!

The real truth is greed hurts any market. Look at the banks... bitcoin can become that if greed isn't countered.
But how can we stop the human instinct of greed? Is greed the biggest long term threat for bitcoin?

Stop using money.  Share as a the family humanity is.  Work collectively towards accomplishing things as a species, not against each other.

Greed retards the progression of mankind.  Greed is the cause of depression, war and hunger.  It is the death of our species.

A society based off love would open infinite opportunities for our evolution.
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
July 06, 2014, 06:53:10 PM
#25
on a personal level? greedy people tend to be jerks...
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