| I'm posting this in the political forum because I think it's right at the heart of the differences between political ideologies. Suppose you have three different worlds:
In the first world, people don't create or destroy wealth - they just take it from each other. Rich people are the ones who take the most and are bad, while poor people are the ones who are oppressed and are good. No one gets rich honestly. Greed is bad because it's essentially the desire to steal from others.
In the second world, people ONLY create wealth through hard work and honest trade. Rich people produce the most and are good, while poor people produce little and have no one to blame but themselves. No one gets rich dishonestly, and greed is good because because it's essentially the desire to be productive.
The third world is a combination of the first two; some people get rich by stealing and oppressing, while others do it through hard work and honest trade. You can't tell whether a person is good or bad based solely on how much wealth they've accumulated and it's stupid to attempt to. Two different kinds of greed exist and should not be confused with one another.
Which world do you think we live in? Is it one of these three, or is it some mix of two of them or something else completely? What kind of objective evidence can you offer in support of your view? |