Greed vs Avarice

The term greed is used ad nauseam by populist politicians and others wanting to denigrate the idea of mans natural desire to better themselves. Where it becomes a negative is only when it comes at the detriment of others. That word is not greed but avarice.

Avarice means covetousness. In other words accumulating wealth through control, manipulation, fraud and force of others. It is not the desire for more that is the problem, it is the desire for more to the detriment of others that is the sin.

Capitalism is based on the desire for more, but has nothing to do with avarice. Capitalists know avarice is damaging in the long run to the capitalist system and is seldom practiced. For this reason, institutional avarice seldom occurs in the private sector for very long. However, avarice rears its ugly head in the Public sector constantly.

Let me be clear. There are crooks and flawed people that allow money to control them to the point of harming others rights or property. But in the private sector, this is the exception, not the rule in a free society. The only place where avarice is allowed to flourish unfettered is in the Government. To better understand that point, look at all the legislation that penalizes success, redistribution of wealth with the progressive tax code, all the entitlements for only certain people of a ethnic, racial, economic, and even sometimes political standing. Note the report that came out today that counties that voted for the Democrat candidate for President in the last election are averaging double the stimulus money per person as those states that voted for the Republican candidate. Conspiracy - no, ideological favoritism and avarice - yes.

Avarice appears to be a corner stone of certain economic philosophies. Socialism uses class warfare, Fascism uses ethnic or labor divisiveness, Keynesian's use the "we know better" for the "better good" position. All display avarice. When the individual is dehumanized into the collective, avarice runs a muck. Avarice is that utopia where man gets to play a god and determine who gets what.

The next time someone says you are greedy, ask them, if they know the difference between greed and avarice.