Capitalism is by nature "greed",
Oh for fuck's sake--no it isn't.
An example of "Greed" is the pursuit of an endeavor when the risk outweighs the gain.
Operating on the premise of consumption is not greed--nor is attempting to consume all your able. It's when you're trying to consume more than you have the capacity for that you enter into the territory of "greed".
I would argue that an example of greed is asking for or accepting subsidies and/or bailout money for your business; you don't actually have the resourcefulness to accrue that sum of money on your own and so you make money appear in your wallet magically when it's fundamentally unsustainable according to your current business model. Thus, you won't be able to pay that money back.
If you wanna talk about "greed", look no further than a mentality of dependency (see also: welfare): a guaranteed accumulation of wealth with only unemployment as a prerequisite.
Maybe I was unclear in what you responded to.
I said that Capitalism is spun by the Left as "greed".
But Capitalism is simply healthy self-interest, and self interest works for the best of everyone in an environment of fair and impartial laws. That resources are used most efficiently when each person works in their self interest, and is rewarded in proportion to their work and contribution.
I would argue that everything that is wrong with our current system is due to the interference of government/regulatory/socialist interference with the free market system. The housing collapse was caused by socialist programs that allowed unqualified borrowers to purchase homes with money that was not theirs, that they didn't work for. Often with no money down, and/or a federally paid down payment (again, none of their own money). So they were perfectly able to walk away when the mortgage went upside down.
Corporate welfare is money given to large corporate businesses that gives them an unfair advantage over their competitors, and interferes with natural market forces, against those with good and ethical/efficient business practices, interference that corrupts the the free market.
I don't truly believe "greed is good". But I do believe true capitalism in a truly free market is good. I think we're getting hung up on semantics here, and, I hope beyond the words, truly in agreement.
