I hate to point this out... not really... but long before England was even
known to exist, greed infected Society.
Rome 2000 years ago had
it.
Take a step back another 2000 years, you don't think it was
underlying greed that caused the creation of the pyramids via slave
labor?
And those examples aren't just "rare blots of greed in humanity".
You can find examples of greed afflicting almost all societies in any decade
period of time you choose to select. I say almost because there is the
potential you will find some small community somewhere at some point in time
where the inhabitants lived in mutual comfort and work efforts.
Unlike
the tendency of humans to want to equate something like greed to a particular
culture... or class... or race... or whatever..... greed, in and of itself,
doesn't care. It strikes anyone and everyone (if they let it) regardless of
gender or age.
Do the United States have a higher ratio of greed compared
with other Countries? I really can't say. I guess that depends on what kind of
measuring stick you use. For example, you could say the American Company is
exercising greed when:
Instead of paying $50k a year for an employee in
the US
The company pays $5k a year for an employee of
China
But then.... how does the greed of China compare when:
The going
rate of said employee in China is $2k a year
And... what is the effect
of all that when you take in local currency rates, local costs of living, etc.
which could drastically alter whether or not that $5k a year is actually
"wealthier" for the individual compared with the costs of living where the
$50k a year invidual is. And then throw in the context where one person
views a given situation as acceptable profit margins and another views that
instance as extreme profits.
I point that out as a simple example of just
how complex it really is to compare "levels of greed". Personally, I think the
bottom line is that Societal Blindness I spoke about in another thread:
The
ability of Society to ignore a given type of harm in one instance while trying
to stamp out that harm in another instance.
Sometimes it works, but it
takes a very, very long time. If people really want to stamp out greed, they
have to be willing to stamp out the greed in their own personal lives... and
most are not willing to do that.
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