Greed. While greed is generally a good thing to have, there are always those who want to subvert the system. They learn in Sunday School there is no penalty for disobeying the Tenth Commandment.
Their avarice is the price we must pay for the freedom to excel - or fail.
MOST of the things directly responsible ARE controllable by the individual. Staying in school, not getting pregnant, saying "No" to a dope dealer, and other temptations contribute mightily to membership in the underclass.
Conversely, there are things that encourage a proper life view: parents who read for recreation, caring for an animal, and more.
"HeyBub" wrote in news:tIqdneRzoeYGlynSnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:
I'm still not quite sure that greed is good. Hunger to get stuff or knowledge, obtained without theft, yes that is good. Teaching others without usury, that's good too.
Agree with this 100%. Reminds me of one time when I was over at my parents house helping my father out with some heavy rocks in the garden. I was 21 at the time.
He stops and looks at me and then says. "You turned out all right". I hadn't realized that all those years of bringing me up, he had his doubts.
I was a little bastard when I was a kid and then into my teenage years. I guess I couldn't blame him for feeling that way. I'm sure it partially explains why I never had any kids. Karma would have stuck it to me for sure.
to ship the young males off to war, have mandatory inscription into the military for 2-3 years to keep them in a controlled environment, incarcerate them until they mature, or otherwise remove sufficient numbers of young males from the population to bring the mean age in line with Germany and increase the ratio of females to males. ;~) It's just so obvious... though perhaps not palatable. ;~)
Dig up a copy of Glenn Deane's early study...
John
One ancient worthy said: "Without greed, no man would build a home, marry, or raise a child." Another equally wise man once said: "Greed is a natural human emotion given to us by God and God doesn't make junk!" (except for the gall bladder)
It's not greed (or hate or anything else) that's bad, it's what you DO with the inclination. You don't handle a bowling ball the same way you handle a box of dynamite; likewise you treat hate differently than love and greed more cautiously than charity.
Consider Albert Sabin peering into his microscope. He was motivated, no doubt, by many altruistic urges. Still, to a large or small degree he undoubtedly was motivated by some emotions that others would consider unacceptable. He may have had enough pride to think "If I can whip this, people will shout my name and think I'm a swell fellow." He may have thought: "A solution will earn me enough money to research the things I want without having to suck up to the bureaucrats." Maybe he even considered: "I'll beat that goddamn Jonas Salk like a drum."
Whatever.
As a result of his thinking - good and bad - Polio has been eradicated, world-wide*, during my lifetime and yours.
"HeyBub" wrote in news:8YCdnQjwu_dkbynSnZ2dnUVZ_q- snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:
I'm not sure that the desire to accomplish good things constitutes greed.
Of course not.
But reverse the cause and effect.
If raw greed generates good things, well, there you are.
Very bad choice of BS to change the topic and force your views into the conversation.
In 1977, even Jonas Salk admitted that mass inoculations caused most polio cases since 1961.
The Salk vaccine proved highly dangerous. Information about it was suppressed, and declines in the disease were well underway when mass-immunizations were begun. In Europe, they occurred in countries that used, then rejected the vaccine proving it was never needed in the first place. Showing also that the same is true for other diseases, including Swine Flu with the WHO and CDC admitting that most cases are mild, unthreatening, and generally pass without treatment, let alone risking dangerous unneeded vaccines.
Consider Albert Sabin peering into his microscope. He was motivated, no doubt, by many altruistic urges. Still, to a large or small degree he undoubtedly was motivated by some emotions that others would consider unacceptable. He may have had enough pride to think "If I can whip this, people will shout my name and think I'm a swell fellow." He may have thought: "A solution will earn me enough money to research the things I want without having to suck up to the bureaucrats." Maybe he even considered: "I'll beat that goddamn Jonas Salk like a drum."
Whatever.
As a result of his thinking - good and bad - Polio has been eradicated, world-wide*, during my lifetime and yours.
I'll follow your disconnected example by top-posting.
In my story, I used Albert Sabin as an exemplar, not Jonas Salk. Sure, there were problems with Salk's, live virus, formulation, but NOT with Sabin's oral, dead-virus, vaccine.
As for off-t> Very bad choice of BS to change the topic and force your views into > the conversation.
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