I looked up Greed in my American Heritage Dictionary and Greed is defined as an excessive desire for more than one needs or deserve. Also Greedy is wishing to possess more than one needs or deserves.
The pure Greed in the Greedy investors made it easy for 70 year old Bernard Madoff to swindle billions out of investors. Someone lost their college tuition. A couple lost their life savings of $3 million. Others lost retirements and charitable contributions.
What thing other than Greed would make intelligent people give their money to this strange looking man? How much money is enough? If someone has millions of dollars that they would never live to spend and if a couble has enough money to retire and live comfortable, why would they risk all they have unless they were Greedy? It is like the story about the dog who had a bone, came to a pond and saw his reflection. He thought he saw another dog with a bone and wanted that dogs' bone. While going after his own reflection, he lost his bone in the pond.
Had these so called victims been wiser, maybe they would not have lost any or all of their money. This is a part of American Culture. Some feel entitled to any and everything. Not only money, but power. Madoffs' Greed took over his conscious and caused him to feel entitled to take the investors money. Do not lament or pity these Greedy individuals, but let us pour water on our own desire to obtain more than we need or deserve.
