Who is "our"? Can you define who "Our" is? You love to speak of greed but, who are these greedy people? I think most of the liberals in Washington D.C. are greedy...greedy for other peoples possessions & power over the people but hey, you made the statement, define your terms.
"Our" is perfectly specific, as it refers to all of us. and that's exactly what I meant to infer.
We are a society that operates mainly on greed. Most of our decisions in life are based on it. And no matter how much we gain, we still want more, and we want to get it for nothing, too, if possible. And if we lose, the more we lose, the more frightened and desperate we become not to lose any more, still. So that we live in a persistent state of fear and desire. And we routinely destroy our own families and communities as a result of it.
Just as an example: Walmart has destroyed the economies of countless small towns all across America, and they did it for no other reason than greed. And most of the people living in those towns participated in their own destruction, and did it for only a few measly cents per purchase. They could have bought their goods from people who they knew, and who lived among them, and thereby kept the wealth of their community within their community, and among people who care about the well-being of that community. But they didn't. Instead, they gave their money to Walmart, to save a few cents per purchase, and drove their own neighbors out of business as their money went to a corporation that couldn't have cared less about them or their community.
Meanwhile, the local politicians agreed to use local tax dollars to pay for the infrastructure needed for Walmart to build their store (water, sewer, drainage, enhanced emergency services, etc.). And they promised Walmart ten years free from property taxes. Why? Because Walmart promised to "create jobs" in their community and the politicians knew that being able to claim that would get them re-elected.
Except that the jobs Walmart creates won't even pay enough for their workers to live on. So now the community will have to come up with public aid like food stamps, and health care, and welfare for their children, after having spent all that money on Walmart's infrastructure,
and promising them tax-free status for the next ten years.
And by the way, when the tax-free ten years are up, Walmart will start the whole process over again by abandoning that store and building another one just a few miles down the road.
And this is just one single example of how our society is destroying itself through it's own greed, and how you and I are a part of it. Because every time we do business with a giant conglomerate's chain outlet, to save ourselves a few pennies, we are driving a local person out of business, and keeping local people from opening up new ones. Which of course eliminates and denies jobs while it depletes the local economy.
And how many among us want to BE a Walmart? How many of us would love to inherit billions of dollars and a piece of one of the most profitable corporations on the planet? And once we inherited this monster, how many of us would behave any differently than the people that did inherit it?
Each member of the Walmart family is worth over a billion dollars. Not a dime of which any of them actually earned. And yet because that still is not enough to satiate their greed, they insist on paying their employees as little as they can get away with, and force the taxpayer to foot the bill for the rest of what they need to live.
And because so many among us would deep down love to be just like the Walton family, we approve of this incredibly toxic greed. And we even fight politically to protect it. While we blame the destruction of our own families and communities on everyone and everything else. Because we certainly aren't going to admit that it might be our own fault.
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