We are all greedy?

accordingly Socialism won't work.

Socialism might not work still for structural reasons, I will kick that part of the argument into touch for now.

We are all greedy?

We might be born with our survival needs forcing us to be greedy.

By the time you are an adult though, if you are still greedy I will politely suggest to you - you were not the recipient of good parenting!

The art of good parenting often involves the parent sacrificing his or her desires (and hence his or her personal greed factor) for the good of his or her child(ren). I can recall more occasions than I would choose to remember when my father in particular sacrificed his personal wants so that my sister and I did not go without what we needed.

And good parenting also requires that the parents offer object lessons to their child(ren) so that they in turn understand the concept of giving to the generation that follows.

If a child wants everything and gets everything that he or she wants? Perish the thought! What sort of society do you get when the spoilt brat generation of children all become adults?

What he or she needs - that is another matter.

I recall one lesson that my father taught me at the age of 8 or 9. We all were to help ourselves to what limited food we had at a meal one evening. When I had taken enough for my needs (and shared out among the family accordingly), I decided to help myself to more. My father's response was to give me his entire meal as well and made sure that I ate it - though it was far too much.

If I wanted to be greedy, I could be and at his expense. An object lesson, and one that I never forgot! For an intelligent child, watching your father go without food for an act of selfishness on your own part was embarrassing and humbling.

Good parenting though - and it involved self-sacrifice.

I often wonder in the world that we have how much that spirit of self-sacrifice remains. I am not that pessimistic, though. Among many good people there will thankfully always be examples.

But nobody is going to convince me that greed is laudable and acceptable, and the only motivation that can make societies work. Lauding our worst instincts, refusing to acknowledge our positive qualities and being unwilling to learn from our mistakes - that surely cannot be to our benefit.