In university, they teach you that “Greed is good” for if you invest, the investments make factories and these factories are good for society, so be greedy, and keep everything for yourself. They teach this is best for society.
In your heart, you know greed is evil. But academically, they present a way of looking at it that twists it in your mind so they can be justified in being greedy. Remember, every group wants to be known as “GOOD” whether or not they are. For even if they are evil, they get away with more things if the public assumes they’re good. This is why lawyers have those they defend dress primp and proper, to look upstanding, to appear good even if they’re guilty as sin.
So the academic rebuttal to greed is good:
- It resides in the false assumption that you’re spending your money in ways better than others would. If you had nearly all the money in the world, would you be better for the world than if someone else did? This is what most people think, but most people are wrong in assuming this.
2. You assume consolidating power into your stock held corporations are better than competition, and money for the sake of money is better than helping people along the way. Quite often clever investing results in record profits if you abuse monopolies or oligopolies by shutting down competition. Society does not benefit when they can barely afford the product you’re selling despite you making record greedy profits.
3. Other dystopian things manifest when you get greedy. For example some are willing to exploit others to get rich. Not all land lords are bad guys, in fact lots of em want to help people get by and live an honest living… But there are big corporate conglomerates in California which pay off politicians so they don’t build enough housing. Politicians and Corporations all across the USA make it so the rate of housing being made does not match the rate of births + immigrations. This lowers supply, raises demand, prices and profits boom, and people die. These politicians and corporations are fine with people suffering dying as long as they’re rich. This is not good. This is evil.
There are many other academic reasons the saying “Greed is good” is a lie. Your heart knows it. We watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas and understand greed is evil there. We watch a Christmas Carol and know greed is evil there. Yet, we somehow accept greed can be okay because university makes a clever cunning lie that tries to fool many? Nah, God himself told us greed is evil.
Psalm 10:3 The wicked are proud of their evil desires; the greedy curse and reject the Lord.
Colossians 3:5 You must put to death, then, the earthly desires at work in you, such as sexual immorality, indecency, lust, evil passions, and greed (for greed is a form of idolatry).
Remember the story of Nabal not wanting to help David, chosen of God.