If humanity survives, I honestly think the greed will (and should now) be considered a mental illness.
Jesus, give me $5 million dollars, and I’d live on it for the rest of my life. That’d be 0.01% of his net worth, and I’d be so happy. I think many of us would.
But these people just want more. And more. They’re psychotic, and they’re ruining the world. We all know what they deserve.
I honestly think the greed will (and should now) be considered a mental illness.
At that point it would just be excusing bad behaviour, would it not? I wouldn’t say putting it on the same level as mental illness is fair, either. People with mental illnesses don’t want to be mentally ill. On the other hand, greed is a trait that directly shows itself in a person’s decisions. You can choose to be greedy, you can’t choose to have, say, arachnophobia.
Sociopathy (antisocial personality diaorder) is already a diagnosed illness with it’s main criteria being lack of empathy
Disregard for and violation of others rights since age 15, as indicated by one of the seven sub features:
Failure to obey laws and norms by engaging in behavior which results in criminal arrest, or would warrant criminal arrest
Lying, deception, and manipulation, for profit or self-amusement,
Impulsive behavior
Irritability and aggression, manifested as frequently assaults others, or engages in fighting
Blatantly disregards safety of self and others,
A pattern of irresponsibility and
Lack of remorse for actions (American Psychiatric Association, 2013)
That’s not greed though. I’ll say it again but more explicitly: Greed is not an illness, it’s a kind of behaviour that anyone can exhibit through their actions. It doesn’t matter whether they’re an average person or someone with an anti-social disorder, that applies regardless.
If humanity survives, I honestly think the greed will (and should now) be considered a mental illness.
Jesus, give me $5 million dollars, and I’d live on it for the rest of my life. That’d be 0.01% of his net worth, and I’d be so happy. I think many of us would.
But these people just want more. And more. They’re psychotic, and they’re ruining the world. We all know what they deserve.
I don’t think Jesus ever had $5 million.
Even when adjusting for inflation?
Excellent point. I will run the numbers again.
I wonder how much of the greed comes as a reaction against the [manufactured] scarcity.
I don’t think it’s all or none. I suspect it the vast majority though.
At that point it would just be excusing bad behaviour, would it not? I wouldn’t say putting it on the same level as mental illness is fair, either. People with mental illnesses don’t want to be mentally ill. On the other hand, greed is a trait that directly shows itself in a person’s decisions. You can choose to be greedy, you can’t choose to have, say, arachnophobia.
Sociopathy (antisocial personality diaorder) is already a diagnosed illness with it’s main criteria being lack of empathy
That’s not greed though. I’ll say it again but more explicitly: Greed is not an illness, it’s a kind of behaviour that anyone can exhibit through their actions. It doesn’t matter whether they’re an average person or someone with an anti-social disorder, that applies regardless.
It’s financial obesity, and should be treated as such