Jefferson Review

"Your Liberty is Our Interest"

Home/  Archives/ Search /Links / Quotes / Book Reviews/ Advertise /Contact us/ Subscribe /Calendar

Smart Greed vs. Dumb Greed

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

Like it or not, we are all greedy.  Every person has an agenda to promote.  Your agenda may be your family’s security and health.  It may be your favorite form of entertainment, a snazzy new car, or your favorite charitable cause.  But, in any case, each of us is selfish and greedy.  So, when you hear people being condemned for being greedy, don’t be too smug about it.  Chances are about 100% that you are greedy too!

Of course, greed and self-interest can take several different forms, some of which are harmful and destructive, and others of which are very beneficial.  Some people want to reach their goals by plundering others, which results in long term harm.  I call that dumb greed.  Others are willing to invest and work hard to be productive, which benefits both themselves and others over the long haul.  I call that smart greed.  Both types of people are greedy, but I suggest that we ought to condemn one form of greed (the dumb, plundering kind) while praising and promoting the other form (the smart, productive kind). 

If you are willing to work hard, hone your skills, serve your employer or customer, save, and invest in order to promote your selfish goals, you are taking a very productive and beneficial path.  Not only will you benefit yourself, but you will also benefit the people around you.  Those who purchase your products or services or who are employed by the businesses in which you work or invest are will all be better off because of your smart greed.  You will generate wealth that will benefit your entire community, improving your neighborhood and creating jobs and opportunities for others.

Still, you may have a competitor who is not too happy about your success.  He may not want to work as hard as you do or may not want to provide the same high quality products or services at your price, and he may feel himself to be harmed and victimized by your greed.  But he is wrong.  Your greed is not harming him.  He is just not doing as good a job as you are of serving the customer, and the customer is giving him that message by dealing with you instead (you may substitute employer for customer if you wish).  He has several options.  First, he can do a better job of serving the customers himself and earn more.  Second, he can go to work for someone else who is more competitive – maybe even you!  Third, he can moan and cry about your greed and demand that the government do something to “level the playing field”, all the while pretending that he is not being greedy himself. 

The first two of those options would be beneficial and productive, involving voluntary actions in the marketplace.  However, if the government begins to act to “level the playing field” in order to protect your greedy competitor, that activity will no longer be in the voluntary arena but would be based on force.  The government might subsidize your competitor with tax dollars, thereby forcibly plundering the taxpayers.  Perhaps the government will protect your competitor by setting a minimum price to be charged for your product or service, thereby harming the consumers.   Maybe the government will create an affirmative action type of program for your competitor, requiring an employer to hire him.  That type of program would harm consumers by making the employer less competitive and would, in the long term, also harm your competitor by discouraging him from making himself competitive and independent. 

So who is greedier – the person who is willing to work and be productive to promote his agenda or the person who wants to use government force in order to promote his agenda?  Of course, both are equally greedy, but one is engaging in productive, beneficial activity while the other is doing serious harm.  Our task is to arrange our society so that the greedy people (namely all of us) are encouraged to take the productive path and discouraged from plundering others.  The way to do that is to respect private property and avoid the use of force to try to “level the playing field”.  Instead of being jealous, wallowing in self-pity, and demanding that the government engage in some sort of plunder on his behalf, this type of policy would encourage your competitor to get up, dust himself off, and find a way to make himself useful!

Weather (Louisville)/ Mapquest / White Pages / Business Search/ CNN / Dictionary / E-card / MSN