Sure, like several other panelists, I well remember Michael Douglas's impassioned speech as corporate predator Gordon Gecko in "Wall Street." Greed, he said then, "is right," it "works" and it "has marked the upward surge of mankind." Creepy stuff--no one's supposed to say that, right?
Among the Seven Deadly Sins, greed gets its particularly bad rep because its results are often so visible, grotesque in their benefits for some and their destruction for others. The tiny band of crooked corporate chiefs get their hundreds of millions, while the thousands of men and women who answer the phones, run the machines and work the loading dock get left without jobs, health insurance or pensions.
But had Gecko been inclined toward theological reflection (unlikely, I admit), he might have taken another angle in his movie speech. Instead, he would have talked up pride as the ultimate motivating force. Within the tradition of the deadly sins, it's pride that causes us as individuals and nations to place ourselves before others, to believe (REALLY believe) that our interests are best and we see clearly where others don't or can't. What makes pride such a deadly sin is it causes us to assume ourselves capable of God-like omniscience. Pride is greed's parent.
To cite an example much in the news now, courtesy of former WH press secretary Scott McClellan, it appears pride led our nation into war in Iraq. (To be sure, some people will cite greed--for oil; but I think pride's the better argument.) As of this writing, on May 30, that act has claimed its share of victims: nearly 4,100 dead; just under 30,000 wounded. Among Americans.
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