Can ethics overcome greed in the 21st century?

No

5 of 5

by Deborah Michelle Jordan

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Negative. Ethics cannot overcome greed in the 21st century, because mankind has revised the working definitions of good and bad behavior, to include greed as an 1)acceptable social motivator and 2)effective business tool. We no longer see greed as an ethical problem.

Of course if you were to conduct a poll, the overwhelming response to whether or not greed is ethical, would be "no", greed is not ethical. However, when asked whether or not it is ethical to accept more money for an item at a yard sale, than the item is worth, the response would likely be "yes". It's just semantics.

Taking more than is needed, is naturally detrimental to others in the same circle of influence - the circle including, man, beast, plant, earth and everything there is. This is the very definition of greed and it's what we do best. While steps can be taken on a personal level, to reduce and/or manage greedy instincts, from the broad perspective of society as a whole, greed is a train that will not be stopped.

Greed is taught to be a good thing in the course of everyday living and is accepted as a standard business practice. Examples:

*The family that holds a yard sale, might price an item for more than they would be willing to sell it for, hoping someone will pay the full asking price. Likewise, a buyer might ask a seller to accept less money for the item, in the hopes of purchasing it for less money than it's worth.

*A child might be encouraged to collect as many Easter Eggs as possible in an Easter Egg hunt, without regard to how much candy the child needs and whether or not less Easter Eggs will be made available to another child.

*Where a vehicle purchase is concerned, it is standard practice for both the salesman and the buyer to negotiate the selling price of the car. Both parties bargain to walk away from the sale with the most assets.

*In a mergers/acquisition negotiation, we expect to see the buyer extend an offer for less money than the value of the seller's assets.

We conduct these kinds of transactions and celebrate when we are able to receive (spend) more (less) money. Were this not greed, we would conduct exchanges for an equal amount of consideration.

Were greed not pervasive at the highest levels of our government, industry would not control the direction of our country and the welfare of its citizens. Me may complain of such things when they are brought to our attention, but in all, we expect it. We all want to get something cheap. We all want more than we need. This is greed.

Greed will not be overcome, because we don't see it as a problem - greed is in the inherent nature of man.

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