Greed

Greed, wrongly defined, is probably the favorite tool of the altruist-collectivist for separating the materially successful from their wealth. Greedy, selfish capitalists are the cause of every ill in society by his shallow reckoning. His definition of greed is sourced by his careful reading of ancient scriptures, Neolithic texts reasoned before the Industrial Revolution, the Bill of Rights, and Capitalism; or some not so ancient texts written by Marx and Engel, who denied the rights of individuals and the value of the mind in the creation of wealth.

Of course, nearly all definitions of “greed” were drafted at a time when all wealth was produced by the impoverished and illiterate masses to benefit a tiny elite who wielded absolute power. The accumulation of wealth and power was accomplished by these elite, not through their own intellectual effort, but rather, by force. These people were greedy: Their lust for wealth and power that they had neither created nor earned defined them.

Market entrepreneurs who have achieved incredible wealth and who have done so by their own ability and ambition can never be said to be greedy. Greed is neither about how much wealth one possesses nor how one uses his wealth. Greed is about how one acquires wealth. The poorest beggar on the street is greedier than the stingiest producer. The beggar lusts for the unearned. The producer creates his own.

A terminally needy person—materially, emotionally—cannot love. They can only need, and sadly, beg and envy.

Why do Americans persist in defining wealthy producers as evil, selfish and greedy?


Actually, it’s quite possible to get a wrong definition of “greed” from Mr. Webster himself. The Webster’s New World Dictionary sitting on my desk defines greed: “excessive desire for getting or having, esp. wealth; desire for more than one needs.” My American Heritage Dictionary concurs: greed is “a rapacious desire for more than one needs…” Who the hell is Mr. Webster or you or anyone to tell me what I need? What right does anyone have to tell anyone else what their needs are? What’s enough? What’s too much?

In fact, all contemporary definers of greed concern themselves with the “accumulation of wealth” or avariciousness. Back in the day, when wealth was produced on the backs of the masses laboring in the field, these definitions of greed were close enough to the truth. But today? In America? A person who achieves incredible wealth in the United States—who has far more than they need or ever could need—is not greedy. They are successful. Their wealth is theirs. They created it. They can do with it whatever they wish. If they choose to give none of it away, their money remains the moral result of their hard work and ingenuity. Wealth is a just measure of the values you create, nothing less.

Too many Americans read the ancient and not so ancient texts and conclude wrongly that an American billionaire is the same animal as the ancient brute. Nothing could be further from the truth. These people believe [like Marx] that there is a finite quantity of wealth in the world and that it is government’s job to distribute it fairly. Again, nothing could be further from the truth.

Wealth is created by the mind of man. The mind is wider than the sky. It is limitless. Four examples: 1. A writer sits down with less than $10 worth of paper and ink, pours his mind out on to paper in sentences. If he writes a Bestseller, he’s just turned $10 worth of raw materials into millions of dollars in sales. 2. All of the oil in the Middle East sat useless under the ground for millennia. The stuff only became valuable when the mind of man grasped the chemistry of the refining process and the usefulness of kerosene. Later, gasoline and the internal combustion engine [also a product of the mind of man] create the oil industry. 3. A couple of yards of material plus the mind of a master fashion designer yields the five thousand dollar dress. The same quality and quantity of raw material in my hands creates a worthless table cloth or beach towel. 4. Computers with easy to use software enable all of us to be more productive. Bill Gates could never be paid enough to compensate him for all of the wealth that has been created by others using tools he created.

Gates deserves far more than the 60 billion he’s got. And if he didn’t give one dime of his money away to charity, he would not be greedy.

Greed is lust for the unearned.