It's Unanimous: Greed Is Not So Good

The Amplified Atheist One thing that most belief systems have given us is the idea that greed is not good. Historical hypocracy is all over the place, of course, with the priestly and royal classes soaking up as much wealth as possible. But, in theory, their "sacred" tennents don't have good things to say about having lots of money.


In pre-captialist times, sudden transfers of wealth were almost always through the spoils of war, which may have been such a obviously strong correlating factor that for the vast majority wealth couldn't be seen as anything other than evil. Now, however, we have lots of non-violent ways for people to become rich and the result could be argued to be just as bad as getting rich by force.

Iin some cases the "wisdom," (ugh) if you will, of some religious doctrines have fairly relevant rationale. Not being a fan of clichés I hate to do this, but throwing the baby out with the bath water may be the case here. An individual's sudden jump in wealth is dangerous. We don't, however, need a religion to teach us that. We have plenty of other evidence now.

Connecting Aid

Drugs that bring a sense of ecstasy can be a way to fullfill a need in all of us to feel a part of overall existence, not apart from it. Those who create art often speak of this state of being when their work "comes to them," for example. They feel like it's something else creating the work and passing it on to them; they just accept it openly. For those who can't do this without assistance, maybe the use of drugs by many is a means to reach this state of being. If so, we shouldn't be so critical while admiring those who have the same skill, unaided.

The Reckless Few Should Not Be Our Main Focus

When disasters happen we often stop people from helping, opting for "official" responses from government authorities instead. This is done in the name of safety—more people might get hurt if "un-trained" people are allowed to help. Inevitably some might get hurt, but only a small minority.

What we have done is likely worse. We have traded in the greater good with immediate and motivated help with distant, cold, and delayed help which is slow in materializing and slow to act once formed. We stop ordinary people from becoming a part of their own life experience, shutting them out from their own humanity—stopping ordinary people from acts of heroism. Trying to keep a few people from harm by stopping helpful, motivated action is troublesome.

We do this in other ways, too. We put together rules and procedures aimed at stopping a small number of people from "cheating" the system, forcing everyone who needs help to suffer through anguish and humiliation, often times making everyone worse.

Let's accept the few people who act recklessly or unethically in order to let the vast majority benefit.

Manipulated By Confusion

One of the things that manipulative people know is the power of confusion to get people to agree with them. The easiest and most common way to do this seems to be through offering too much information and/or misinformation. This approach can cause people to shut down and seek simple answers as an alternative.


In order to either stop an issue from gaining traction or getting one established, if people can be put in a state of confusion, a "savior," if you will, can come in with a simple answer and win the day. The simple answer doesn't even need to be all that relevant or even accurate.

Confusion sends people running for a way to "fix" the tangle of information (or misinformation) in their minds and will latch on to what seems simple, even if it's not relevant, as long as it's sold as being an alternative to the confused state. In an inverse relationship, the more confused a person is the more simple an answer that will be accepted.

Un-Checking And Un-Balancing Checks And Balances

Yesterday's Supreme Court decision giving corporations status equal to actual humans is one of the most hideous decisions ever made. Corporations are human constructions not humans themsevles. They are run by humans. They are supposed to serve humans, not the other way around. They are not people.

The Supreme Court has sanctioned the few powerful people who run corporations the ability and the "right" to buy legislators with the money they make from the rest of us. Laws will now be written with the pockets in mind of the people who run the corporations, not the people who actually make up the citizenry. Concentrations of money equal concentrations of power. The Supreme Court has just agreed that this is a good philosophy and has un-checked and un-balanced the checks and balances system.

Economic Competition Needs Competitors To Work

Too many people do not think through the concept of economic competition and its positive effects on an economy’s outcome and stability. The idea that economic competition will produce lower prices and push innovation is only valid if no one wins by eliminating their rivals. It only works if the competitors stick around. If one player gets too powerful or gains too much market share, their need to compete falls away and stops the forces that control prices and produce new produces and services.

Too many people applaud, admire, and even support large corporations and their efforts to stifle competition. A competitive economic system only works when there are plenty of competitors.

Belief Settlement

Once something is believed it is no longer a matter to be investigated, no longer to be thought about at all. It is a place where thought stops. A journey of thought should be a goal, not a destination of belief settlement. Things should continuously be pondered. A thinking mind is always achieving its goal because motion--the journey, the movement--is the goal, not a particular destination that comes to rest in a belief.

Good God?

Why do so many people think (or believe) that a universal/single god must be good by default?

Never End

Never declare "The End"; always leave room for new information and new conclusions.

What Do We Never Notice?

We will not notice bad smells after a time immersed. We will also put aside a loud noise if persistent. We still know of the smell or noise because we remember it from the original encounter.

What things do we never notice during our entire lives because we became used to them during our infancy, a point of time from which we have no memory? What things are always there from birth that we never notice because we got used to them just after we were born?

Can't Do vs. Must Do

It is less restrictive to impose "can't do" rules rather than "must do" rules. "Must do" give no alternatives; "can't do" leaves options.

The Pain Of The Witness

The desire and drive to help others often comes from the need to stop the pain of witnessing it in others.

America's Self-Imposed Protective Custody

What a national border wall actually does is put America into protective custody, a status into which no one would normally enter into voluntarily. It seems drastic and wasteful. For a country that is supposed to be a land of freedom we are increasingly becoming a land of seclusion and isolation.

The words of Germaine Greer come to mind: "Probably the only place where a man can feel really secure is in a maximum security prison, except for the imminent threat of release." We are becoming a society in which a self-imposed prison is being substituted for liberty. We are separating ourselves from the rest of the world, driven by threats blown way out of proportion.

H.L. Mencken told us "the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed--and hence clamorous to be led to safety--by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

Motionless Point-Of-View Hurts

People are never more true to their personally held positions than when attempting to teach them to others or trying to "convert" those who disagree. People's own self-identifiers will become less concrete when not expressed in a fashion meant to inform or coerce.

If someone expresses their position with the thought of solidifying their own stance instead of enhancing someone else, even sub-consciously, the flow of information back to the teacher or coercer gets blocked, eliminating the corrective force of new information that inevitably returns. The “truth” of the original communication then remains damaged by not having accepted the repair. Further attempts at sharing then become harmful to everyone because the information results in an infliction rather than an improvement.

False Victims

To "get even" is a universal human drive that can be exploited in order to energize people, getting them to falsely think they've been victimized. A great deal of humanity's mistakes can be attributed to a false sense of victimization.

Unwanted Recognition

We all have a need for recognition; it is the thing that drives us more than any other force. However, we only want recognition from the people we admire and respect. To be recognized by those thought of as inferior is seen as an insult, or at best a "nicety" we accept without much acknowledgement and, sometimes, embarrassment.

Revenge Is Human

One of the reasons we may see other animals as distinctly separate from humans is the fact that other animals don't seek revenge against us when we harm them.

Invalid Justifier

Why do so many accept as valid attempts at justification that point to something else claiming it is worse?

Palestinian Reservations

How different is the Israeli settlement of Palestinian lands from the U.S. allowing settlement of Native American lands? Would the term reservation be applicable in both places?

Seeking A Hook

In an argument it is often the case that one or more of the participants is waiting to hear one very specific thing that will provide a “hook” they need to run with a pre-set series of statements upon which they have come to solely rely. If the hook is provided, all else that was done or said is then ignored, no matter how relevant. If the hook is not provided, this person will find a way to insert it and run with it as if the other person actually said it.

Do What I Say While I Refuse To Listen

Imagine a country’s leadership refusing to address or even acknowledge the reasons it comes under attack. Then imagine that same country’s leaders ordering an attack on a different country after its leaders refuse to comply with demands placed upon it.

This country would be projecting to the world that it will not listen to others--even while under attack--while demanding every other country listen it its commands and follow them. Can a country like this last?

One God = Bigger Countries?

From what I think I know about ancient peoples, it was common to recognize each other's gods as people traveled to other regions or conquered them. Gods were seen as regional and no threat to one's own gods back home. Visitors and invaders paid homage to the local gods of each region they entered. There was room for all kinds of gods all over the place. The Hebrews' original beliefs took this into account also, with the references to other gods in their writings, including the 10 commandments--"no other gods before me."

Maybe this was a major factor that help keep political boundaries small, collapsing whenever they tried to get too big. Maybe it was the claim of one universal god that allowed larger and larger governments to survive, at least in part. If a group has the same gods then they can more easily remain homogenous and see themselves as part of one group, too, no matter how big.

Reminds me of the supposedly conservative principle of "local control," "states rights" and similar thoughts. If this idea of allowing smaller groups more power eventually leads to more gods in the future (as it was in the past) would they still be in favor of it, now that the religious right is in control of the conservatives politically?

Authority's Limits

There is the common thought that those who do not respect authority are seen as misfits or even mentally unstable. People who even question authority are often tagged negatively. There is no psychological profile that will desingate resistance to authority as a positive trait. Yet, when things happen where authority is used to commit evil acts the public wonders why everyone went along.

The Value Of A Human

Unfortunately, we don't put the same value on each human's life. Many of society's people do literally look at the poorest and most uneducated as worth less, in some cases worthless.

As an example, look at the compensation paid to the families of the people who died in the 9/11 twin towers collapse. They did not all get the same amount of money. They got money based on how much income their loved one generated while alive.

It's a nice idea that we consider everyone's existence as equally valuable, but it's just not true. I wish it were. We are nowhere near that point, and may never get there.

The successfully greedy are considered more valuable than the rest.